---
title: '1856: James Buchanan'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/elections/us-presidential/1856/
description: a three-way contest between Buchanan (Democratic), Frémont (Republican) and Fillmore (American, or Know Nothing), won by Buchanan, with nine campaign…
section: US presidential elections
---

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[US presidential elections](https://propagandaarchive.org/elections/us-presidential/)

# 1856: James Buchanan

- **When:** 1856

On this page

**In one line:** a three-way contest between Buchanan (Democratic), Frémont (Republican) and Fillmore (American, or Know Nothing), won by Buchanan, with nine campaign banners and cartoon prints, three for each candidate.

## Context

James Buchanan, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, won 174 of 296 electoral votes. John C. Frémont, the Republican candidate, received 114, and Millard Fillmore, listed by the National Archives as Whig-American, received 8 [1]. The American Presidency Project records the popular vote as Buchanan 1,836,072 (45.3%), Frémont 1,342,345 (33.1%) and Fillmore 873,053 (21.6%) [2]. Frémont's electoral votes came from northern states, and Fillmore's from Maryland alone [1].

Reference works describe the main issue as the expansion of slavery into the territories after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, with the American Party also stressing opposition to Catholic immigration [3]. The objects catalogued here are woodcut and lithographed banners and cartoon prints published as sheets, several by Nathaniel Currier of New York.

## Campaign literature

| Candidate (party) | Objects in the archive |
| --- | --- |
| James Buchanan (Democratic) | 3 |
| John C. Frémont (Republican) | 3 |
| Millard Fillmore (American) | 3 |

Each candidate has three objects, so no side is under-represented in the count. Several are cartoons that attack one rival while favouring another; each is placed under the candidate it favours.

### James Buchanan (Democratic)

- [James Buchanan campaign banner (Baker & Godwin, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/buchanan-democratic-banner-1856/) (poster, 1856-06): a woodcut banner showing Buchanan's head and shoulders between bundles of flags and olive sprigs, captioned "Democratic candidate for President of the United States".
- ["'Buck' taking the 'Pot'" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/buck-taking-pot-buchanan-1856/) (cartoon, 1856): a card-game cartoon in which Buchanan, holding four aces and a cauldron of "Union Soup", claims the winnings while Frémont lies tripped on a "Rock of Disunion" and Fillmore concedes. Its date is unsettled: LOC gives only "1856", and the speeches are in victory tense, so it may be a post-election print.
- ["The Grand National Fight" (Democratic print, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/grand-national-fight-buchanan-1856/) (cartoon, 1856): a boxing-ring cartoon in which a standing Buchanan has floored Fillmore and squares off against Frémont, whose backer calls him "wooly Hoss". LOC dates it only "1856", and the bout is billed for 6 November, two days after the election.

### John C. Frémont (Republican)

- ["The Champions of Freedom" Frémont and Dayton banner (Buffalo, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fremont-dayton-champions-of-freedom-1856/) (poster, 1856): a lithographed ticket banner with oval portraits of Frémont and Dayton under an eagle, flags and shield, titled "The Champions of Freedom".
- ["Col. Fremont Planting the American Standard" (Baker & Godwin, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fremont-planting-standard-1856/) (poster, 1856-07): a woodcut banner of a bearded Frémont on a peak planting the American flag, with an eagle overhead and two frontiersmen cheering below.
- ["The Balls Are Rolling - Clear the Track" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/balls-rolling-fremont-1856/) (cartoon, 1856): giant balls named for northern and western states roll over a crushed Buchanan and a Fillmore, under a rainbow reading "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Press, Free Men & Fremont".

### Millard Fillmore (American)

- [Millard Fillmore campaign banner (Baker & Godwin, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fillmore-american-banner-1856/) (poster, 1856-07): a woodcut banner with Fillmore's portrait in a roundel under an eagle, flanked by Justice and Liberty over a scroll marked "The Union".
- ["The Great Presidential Sweepstakes of 1856" (Currier)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/presidential-sweepstakes-fillmore-1856/) (cartoon, 1856): a horse-race cartoon with Fillmore's carriage leading toward the White House while Buchanan and Frémont lag, the latter's cart stuck in an "Abolition Cess Pool"; the Library of Congress calls it a nativist view of the campaign.
- ["The Right Man for the Right Place" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/right-man-fillmore-1856/) (cartoon, 1856): Fillmore stands between an armed Frémont and a dagger-wielding Buchanan and holds back both, each rival made to call the other a violent label.

## Techniques visible

The same definitions apply to every candidate. Each list below is generated from the `techniques` tags in the entries.

- [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/): Buchanan (["'Buck' taking the 'Pot'" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/buck-taking-pot-buchanan-1856/), ["The Grand National Fight" (Democratic print, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/grand-national-fight-buchanan-1856/)); Frémont (["The Balls Are Rolling - Clear the Track" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/balls-rolling-fremont-1856/)); Fillmore (["The Great Presidential Sweepstakes of 1856" (Currier)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/presidential-sweepstakes-fillmore-1856/), ["The Right Man for the Right Place" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/right-man-fillmore-1856/)). The tell is the same for each: a derisive or loaded label, animal or ethnic image attached to a candidate, his backers or his opponents in place of an argument.
- [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/): Buchanan ([James Buchanan campaign banner (Baker & Godwin, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/buchanan-democratic-banner-1856/)); Frémont (["The Champions of Freedom" Frémont and Dayton banner (Buffalo, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fremont-dayton-champions-of-freedom-1856/), ["Col. Fremont Planting the American Standard" (Baker & Godwin, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fremont-planting-standard-1856/), ["The Balls Are Rolling - Clear the Track" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/balls-rolling-fremont-1856/)); Fillmore ([Millard Fillmore campaign banner (Baker & Godwin, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fillmore-american-banner-1856/)). The tell is the same for each: the standing of a person, place, symbol or event is attached to a candidate.
- [Bandwagon](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bandwagon/): Buchanan (["'Buck' taking the 'Pot'" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/buck-taking-pot-buchanan-1856/), ["The Grand National Fight" (Democratic print, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/grand-national-fight-buchanan-1856/)); Frémont (["The Balls Are Rolling - Clear the Track" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/balls-rolling-fremont-1856/)); Fillmore (["The Great Presidential Sweepstakes of 1856" (Currier)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/presidential-sweepstakes-fillmore-1856/)). The tell is the same for each: a slogan, verse or picture announcing that the candidate is winning or that others are joining.
- [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/): Buchanan (["'Buck' taking the 'Pot'" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/buck-taking-pot-buchanan-1856/)); Frémont (["The Champions of Freedom" Frémont and Dayton banner (Buffalo, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/fremont-dayton-champions-of-freedom-1856/), ["The Balls Are Rolling - Clear the Track" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/balls-rolling-fremont-1856/)). The tell is the same for each: virtue words offered with no testable claim.
- [Bothsidesism](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/bothsidesism/): Fillmore (["The Right Man for the Right Place" (Currier, 1856)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/right-man-fillmore-1856/)). The tell is the same for each: two rivals drawn as matched opponents so that the third appears the only alternative.

## Sources

1. National Archives, "Electoral College: 1856 Election", https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/1856
2. American Presidency Project, "1856", https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/elections/1856
3. Wikipedia, "1856 United States presidential election" (cross-check only), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1856_United_States_presidential_election
4. Library of Congress records: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003689274/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661588/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2008661584/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003689272/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003689276/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/90708912/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003689273/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004665353/ · https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2001703986/