Republican suspicions of impropriety turned out to be fully justified.[42]
Historians agree that the Court decision was a major disaster for it dramatically inflamed tensions leading to the Civil War.[43][44][45] In 2022 historian David W. Blight argues that the year 1857 was, "the great pivot on the road to disunion...largely because of the Dred Scott case, which stoked the fear, distrust and conspiratorial hatred already common in both the North and the South to new levels of intensity."[46]

Personnel
Cabinet and administration
The Buchanan cabinetOfficeNameTermPresidentJames Buchanan1857–1861Vice PresidentJohn C. Breckinridge1857–1861Secretary of StateLewis Cass1857–1860Jeremiah S. Black1860–1861Secretary of the TreasuryHowell Cobb1857–1860Philip Francis Thomas1860–1861John Adams Dix1861Secretary of WarJohn B. Floyd1857–1860Joseph Holt1861Attorney GeneralJeremiah S. Black1857–1860Edwin Stanton1860–1861Postmaster GeneralAaron V. Brown1857–1859Joseph Holt1859–1860Horatio King1861Secretary of the NavyIsaac Toucey1857–1861Secretary of the InteriorJacob Thompson1857–1861
President Buchanan and his Cabinet, photograph by Mathew Brady (c. 1859).From left to right: Jacob Thompson, Lewis Cass, John B. Floyd, James Buchanan, Howell Cobb, Isaac Toucey, Joseph Holt and Jeremiah S. Black

As his inauguration approached, Buchanan sought to establish an obedient, harmonious cabinet to avoid the in-fighting that had plagued Andrew Jackson's administration.