Pat Buchanan

(noun)

Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan ( /bjuːkænɨn/; born November 2, 1938) is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician, and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior advisor to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996. He ran on the Reform Party ticket in the 2000 presidential election.

Related Terms

Examples of Pat Buchanan in the following topics:

  • Republican Turmoil & Democratic Resurgence

    • Conservative political columnist Pat Buchanan challenged Bush for the Republican nomination, and shocked political pundits by finishing second, with 37% of the vote, in the New Hampshire primary.
    • Bush responded by adopting more conservative positions on issues, in an attempt to undermine Buchanan's base.

  • The 1992 Election

    • Conservative political columnist Pat Buchanan challenged Bush for the Republican nomination, and shocked political pundits by finishing second, with 37% of the vote, in the New Hampshire primary.
    • Bush responded by adopting more conservative positions on issues in an attempt to undermine Buchanan's base.

  • The "New World Order"

    • Pat Buchanan predicted that the Gulf War would in fact be the demise of the new world order, the concept of UN peacekeeping, and the U.S.' s role as global policeman.

  • Buchanan's Waiting Game

    • After the 1860 election, President Buchanan did little to prevent secession or prepare the United States for the possibility of war.
    • In the aftermath of the Presidential election of 1860, President Buchanan did little to halt this secessionist tide in the Deep South.
    • Buchanan's address only attracted sharp, bitter criticism from the North (for Buchanan's claim that the crisis was a direct result of Northern interference) and the South (for Buchanan refuting its right to secede), rather than taking any effective action to prevent the conflict from escalating.
    • Buchanan and his administration took no action to stop this confiscation of government property.
    • However, by that time, Buchanan's relations with Congress were so strained that his requests were rejected out of hand.

  • The Election of 1856

    • The Democrats, on the other hand, supported James Buchanan.
    • Buchanan embraced the relatively moderate popular sovereignty approach to the expansion of slavery in his election platform and warned that the Republican Party was a coalition of radical antislavery extremists that would force the country into Civil War.
    • Buchanan won the election of 1856 with the full support of the South as well as five free states.
    • Although Buchanan won the election and Frémont received fewer than 600 votes in all slave states, the results in the Electoral College indicated that the Republican Party could succeed in the next election if they won just two more states.
    • Buchanan had won 45.3 percent of the popular vote and 174 electoral votes whereas Frémont had won 33.1 percent of the popular vote and 114 electoral votes.

  • The Religious Right

    • Christian television programs, such as Pat Robertson’s The 700 Club and Jim Bakker’s The PTL (Praise the Lord) Club, proved enormously popular and raised millions of dollars from viewer contributions.
    • Notable leaders and groups within the Religious Right are Robert Grant's advocacy group Christian Voice, Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, Ed McAteer's Religious Roundtable Council, James Dobson's Focus on the Family, and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network.
    • One of the most well-known organizations of the Right is the Christian Coalition of America which was begun by religious broadcaster and political commentator Pat Robertson.
    • Following a well-funded but failed bid for the U.S. presidency in 1988, religious broadcaster and political commentator Pat Robertson used the remains of his campaign machinery to jump-start the creation of a voter mobilization effort dubbed the Christian Coalition.
    • Thus, the Christian Coalition was actually planned long before Pat Robertson's run for president.

  • The First Spouse

    • Lady Bird Johnson pioneered environmental protection and beautification; Pat Nixon encouraged volunteerism and traveled extensively abroad; Betty Ford supported women's rights; Rosalynn Carter aided those with mental disabilities; Nancy Reagan founded the Just Say No drug awareness campaign; Barbara Bush promoted literacy; Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to reform the healthcare system in the U.S.; and Laura Bush supported women's rights groups and encouraged childhood literacy.
    • Lady Bird Johnson pioneered environmental protection and beautification; Pat Nixon encouraged volunteerism and traveled extensively abroad; Betty Ford supported women's rights; Rosalynn Carter aided those with mental disabilities; Nancy Reagan founded the Just Say No drug awareness campaign; Barbara Bush promoted literacy; Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to reform the healthcare system in the U.S.; and Laura Bush supported women's rights groups and encouraged childhood literacy.
    • First Ladies Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush (standing, left to right), Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter, and Betty Ford (seated, left to right) at the dedication of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, November 1991.

  • Secession of the South

    • In the aftermath of the 1860 presidential election, sitting President Buchanan did little to halt the wave of Southern secession.
    • Paradoxically, in his final address to Congress, Buchanan denied that states had a right to secede from the Union, but also held that the federal government could not prevent secession from happening through the use of force.
    • Instead, Buchanan proposed a constitutional amendment reaffirming slavery as a protected American institution, strengthening existing fugitive slave laws, and preventing Congress from legislating against the expansion of slavery into federal territories.

  • The Ostend Manifesto and Cuba

    • Minister to Great Britain James Buchanan and U.S.
    • A political cartoon depicts James Buchanan surrounded by hoodlums using quotations from the Ostend Manifesto to justify robbing him.

  • The Dred Scott Decision

    • The Supreme Court ruling was handed down on March 6, 1857, just two days after James Buchanan's inauguration.
    • In the North, it fueled claims of a "slave power" conspiracy with President Buchanan, a Democrat, and the Supreme Court, controlled by a Democratic majority, working to benefit the interests of Southern slaveowners.