Van Buren supported Franklin Pierce for president in 1852, James Buchanan in 1856, and Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. Van Buren viewed the fledgling Know Nothing movement with contempt and felt that the anti-slavery Republican Party exacerbated sectional tensions. He considered Chief Justice Roger Taney's ruling in the 1857 case of Dred Scott v. Sandford to be a "grievous mistake" since it overturned the Missouri Compromise. He assessed that the Buchanan administration handled the issue of Bleeding Kansas poorly, and saw the Lecompton Constitution as a sop to Southern extremists.
Van Buren supported Franklin Pierce for president in 1852, James Buchanan in 1856 and Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. Van Buren viewed the fledgling Know Nothing movement with contempt and felt that the anti-slavery Republican Party exacerbated sectional tensions. He considered Chief Justice Roger Taney's ruling in the 1857 case of Dred Scott v. Sandford to be a "grievous mistake", since it overturned the Missouri Compromise. He assessed that the Buchanan administration handled the issue of Bleeding Kansas poorly, and saw the Lecompton Constitution as a sop to Southern extremists.