Talk:James Buchanan

Pronunciation redux

Some time ago (look in the archives) there was an improbable-sounding claim that the pronunciation was /ˈbʌk.ənən/. Comes now an anon with a slightly less implausible claim that the contemporary pronunciation was /ˌbjuːˈkeɪ.nən/. No one, to my knowledge, has ever provided a verifiable source for either of these.
On the other hand, I don't really know that they're wrong. I really think the simplest way out of the mess is just not to have a pronunciation key, as it isn't really needed. This is a perfectly ordinary name, and competent English speakers will know how to pronounce it. Admittedly English learners could have issues, but Wikipedia isn't a dictionary.
If we really have to have a pronunciation key, then either we go with the one everyone knows, /ˌbjuːˈkæn.ən/ and the anons go away, or someone needs to show sources. Even if there are sources for one of these odd alleged contemporary pronunciations, they should not be represented as the pronunciation, because practically no one uses them today. --Trovatore (talk) 15:50, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

I think we should specify the pronunciation. It may seem like a competent English speaker shouldn't need it, but through tough and thorough thought I've learned that English pronunciation is rather unpredictable. Someone who has only read the name "Buchanan" can't really tell whether it's pronounced "byoo-KA-nin", "byoo-KAY-nen", "BYOO-ke-nin", "butch-AY-nen", "BUTCH-a-nin", "BUCK-a-nin", etc. We provide the pronunciation whenever it's potentially ambiguous, e.g. for Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama etc. I looked for sources about the pronunciation of James Buchanan's name and found no indication that it ever was anything but /ˌbjuːˈkæn.ən/. Here are some videos of historians, journalists etc. saying his name: Britannica, a journalist and a historian, another historian on C-SPAN, two more historians on C-SPAN. I haven't watched the full videos, but I've found zero evidence that the pronunciation has ever been different. I guess these anons are trying to prank Wikipedia. Let's include the well-known and undisputed pronunciation in the first sentence. Maybe we'll have to revert these anons a few more times, but eventually they'll give up. — Chrisahn (talk) 18:11, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

You make a good case. --Trovatore (talk) 22:12, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! I just had a look at the previous talk page entries here (2016) and here (2009). The only argument for any other pronunciation was "I once read...", so I went ahead and added the pronunciaton /ˌbjuːˈkæn.ən/ that you mentioned above. (I don't really know IPA, but it looks correct to me.) Maybe we should also add something like byoo-KAN-ən for those who don't know IPA? Similar to Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan? Not sure. — Chrisahn (talk) 23:28, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

Election of 1860

The article says not a word about why Buchanan did not run in 1860. Please add this, I don't know much about him but I had hoped to find this. deisenbe (talk) 17:38, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Done. Hoppyh (talk) 01:46, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

Civil War came close in late June 1863

Buchanan lived in Wheatland, on west outskirts of Lancaster, and some Confederates reached Wrightsville but were kept out of Columbia and Lancaster County because a bridge was torched. Those Confederates headed west to join other Confederates at Gettysburg. Carlm0404 (talk) 03:06, 19 June 2021 (UTC)

James Buchanan's military service

Buchanan was the first of only two presidents in American history with military experience who were not officers. The other was Harry S. Truman.

References