T H E BUCHANAN SPOILS SYSTEM A N D T H E UTAH E X P E D I T I O N : Careers of W. M. F. Magraw and John M. Hockaday BY W I L L I A M P . M A C K I N N O N
You may give a man an office, but you cannot give him discretion. Words may show a man's wit, but actions his meaning. Poor Richard's Almanac
In March of 1857, James Buchanan became the fifteenth President of the United States. Within two months after taking office, he had committed the army to the most expensive and mismanaged American military venture to precede the Civil War. Buchanan had decided to resolve the "Mormon Problem" by intervening in Utah Territory with federal troops. Critics of Buchanan's military policy have long contended that this decision was based on biased evidence, ulterior political motives, and a desire to enrich personal and commercial friends of the new Democratic Administration rather than on a sound analysis of conditions in Utah. Although widely held, especially in Utah, few of these theories have been adequately substantiated. The purpose of this article is (1) to present a small but highly important collection of documents bearing on the Utah Military Expedition, and (2) to analyze their significance in terms of both Buchanan's judgment and his relationships with political associates engaged in western business activities. This analysis deals extensively with the character and activities of two of Buchanan's associates, W. M. F. Magraw and John M. Hockaday. Following Buchanan's decision to garrison Utah, Lieutenant General Winfield Scott marshalled 2,500 troops of the 5th and 10th Infantry Regiments, 2nd Dragoons and 4th Artillery at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Territory, in preparation for the march to Salt This article is based in part on Mr. MacKinnon's Senior Honors Essay at Yale University where it received the Walter J. McClintock Prize in 1960. Additional research was done while he completed work on a master's degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1962.
fames Buchanan (1791-1868), was President of the United States from 1856 to 1860.
