34/43 His course saved the administration, not indeed from a mortifying position, but from a continually increasing embarrassment which seemed to force upon the country the cruel alternatives of war or dishonor. BUCHANAN. He seems to have regarded his Secretary of State as always willing to save himself at the expense of others. He did not fail to perceive that Mr.Buchanan had come out of the Oregon trouble with more credit, at least with less loss, than any other man prominently identified with its agitation and settlement. This was not pleasing to the President. |