LS as president, one lined page, 8 x 7.25, June 25, 1860. President Buchanan sends a letter to the Senators of the United States. In full, “An extraordinary occasion rendering it necessary that the Senate should be convened to receive and act on such communications as have been or may be addressed to it on the part of the Executive, you are requested to attend at the Senate Chamber for that purpose at noon tomorrow the 26th instant.” Matted and framed with a portrait to 22.5 x 14. In 1860, the rift between James Buchanan and Stephen Douglas doomed the political aspirations of both. Under the strain of internal pressure and sectional tension, the Democratic Party finally snapped in two, allowing an unknown railroad lawyer from an upstart party — the Republican Abraham Lincoln — to win the White House. Just weeks after this letter was written, South Carolina would secede,in November Lincoln was elected, and the following April the Civil War would erupt…these were turbulent times for both Buchanan and the country. In fine condition, with two vertical folds, one through a single letter of signature and a touch of mild toning. R&R COA.
