Dear Dr. Scribblerbuck:
During the 1990s, I was a docent at James Buchananâs home, Wheatland. I was taught exactly what was the prescribed story of his life to tell to tourists. They especially stressed that Buchanan was never a slave owner and abhorred the institution. I repeated this story to many visitors.
I have recently read that he indeed bought two enslaved people and âkeptâ them for the years it took for them to work off the cost of buying them. Calling them indentured servants does not change that this was indeed slavery and I am so sorry that I was a part of the myth of James Buchanan at Wheatland.