Stories about James Buchanan

Faces & Places of Yesterday, Historical Events, Pictures Tell a Story / 18.02.2014

First Known Photo of Presidential Inauguration (1857)

This is an extremely rare photograph of James Buchanan's Inauguration at the East Front of the Capitol Building on March 4th, 1857. It's a little blurry and not the highest resolution, but amazing nevertheless. The exposure...

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Historical Events / 03.07.2012

Arrival of First Japanese Embassy at the Navy Yard (1860)

Japanese embassy posing for photo with naval officers at Washington's navy yard (Library of Congress)

In January 1860, the Tokugawa shogunate sent a delegation to the United States with the primary objective of ratifying the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation (aka, the Harris Treaty). Commodore Matthew Perry (not Chandler) had opened Japan (forcefully)...

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