Sink Hole: How Kansas Crises Doomed the Presidencies of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan

LancasterHistory.org kicks off the 2017 Presidential Lecture series on Friday, September 29, 2017 with Dr. Michael F. Holt for Sink Hole: How Kansas Crises Doomed the Presidencies of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. Holt’s presentation will explore how the two critical changes in the United States’ rule of law, the 1854 Kansas Nebraska Act and the 1857 Dred Scott Decision, created political tripping stones that destroyed the Presidencies of the 14th and 15th Presidents of the United States. 

Michael F. Holt, Ph.D. is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History Emeritus at the University of Virginia. Dr. Holt received his Bachelor of Arts at Princeton University and his doctorate at Johns Hopkins. He is the author of six books, including the award-winning The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party and By One Vote: The Disputed Presidential Election of 1876. One the United States’ most prolific and influential scholars on antebellum politics, Dr. Holt served as a keynote speaker at the 2008 President James Buchanan National Symposium at LancasterHistory.org. 

Event Information: This event takes place in Ryder Hall at LancasterHistory.org. A social gathering begins at 4pm, followed by the lecture at 4:30pm. The event is free and open to the public. Ample parking available on-site.