Did you know Buchanan is known as the only lifelong bachelor president, relying on his niece, Harriet Lane, to serve as White House hostess ? (He shared a home for many years with 30-year close friend and fellow politician William Rufus King, leading to speculation about their relationship; Andrew Jackson reportedly referred to King as "Miss Nancy". Buchanan was engaged to Anne Caroline Coleman, but she died in 1819.)

Did you know he was to be gifted a pair of elephants by the King of Thailand ? (In 1861, King Mongkut of Siam (now Thailand) offered to send pairs of elephants to President James Buchanan to help "bear burdens" and multiply in the American wilderness. The offer, intended as a gift of friendship, was addressed to Buchanan but received in 1862 by President Lincoln, who politely declined, citing an unsuitable climate for breeding elephants.)

Did you know due to a defect in one of his eyes, he often tilted his head, giving him a "perpetual attitude of courteous deference" ?

Did you know before becoming president, he had a distinguished career as a lawyer, member of the PA House of Representatives, U.S. Representative, Senator, Minister to Russia, and Secretary of State under Polk ?

Did you know after leaving office in March 1861, James Buchanan retired to his Wheatland estate near Lancaster, Pennsylvania and his post-presidency was marked by intense criticism and blame for the Civil War, leading him to defend his administration in a 1866 memoir, Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion and he supported the Union cause but remained largely isolated until his death on June 1, 1868 ?