Buchanan James: biography and photos

Cases when in the circle of successful, popular and famous people you can meet full namesake, are rare. But under the name of Buchanan James, several prominent people are known, one of whom made a huge contribution to the development of modern economy. The owner of the same name was also a successful American businessman, who owns a large tobacco business, and the US president. In the article we will look at the biographies of all the outstanding James Buchanan, and also learn about the merits, thanks to which they became so famous.

From the Nobel Prize laureate and the 15th US president to the fictional comic hero

To date, several Americans are known, in whose names there is such a combination - James Buchanan. These are people who are in no way connected with one another by professional activity. One of them is the strongest world businessman and industrialist of the XIX century, who has built up billions in the tobacco industry. The second is the Nobel Prize winner, economist James Buchanan, whose theory of public choice is still used today by economists and political scientists around the world.

The same name as the two previous heroes of our article was worn by the 15th President of the United States. Alas, it can not be said that he went down in history thanks to some special merit, but this Buchanan also distinguished himself by something - the consensus of American historians called him the worst president in the entire long history of the United States.

In the list of famous owners of this name can be attributed another hero, though, this time fictional. They became the character of one of the comic books of the Marvel, a soldier named James Buchanan (Baki Barnes). It would seem that in the 21st century the viewer could see so many movie heroes that he can not be surprised by anything. But with Baki Barnes everything turned out differently. Fans of "Marvel" are known for their devotion to the comics of this company and fanatical love for its fictional heroes. Here is their Buchanan James, once he became part of the comic story, as if he came to life and became a real man. The character came out so realistic that on the Internet the loyal fans of the film company post his biography, devote his poems and comment on all the screen actions of this character.

In this article, we will review brief biographies of all the famous James Buchanan, as well as the achievements that have made them history. Invented by "Marvel" biography of the life of Baki Barnes, we, for the sake of justice and for his devoted fans, will also briefly consider at the end of our article.

The great economist and Nobel Prize laureate

The first of the Buchanans, whose biography we will consider, will be a man whose full name is James McGill Buchanan, Jr..

He was born in 1919, in an American state called Tennessee. His first education the future Nobel laureate received at the local pedagogical college. Higher education (master's degree) a young man received at the University of Tennessee, successfully graduating from his economics department. After graduation, he was almost immediately drafted into the army. After completing the military training in the Naval School, he served on Guam, as well as at the headquarters of the fleet at Pearl Harbor.

James McGill Buchanan earned his doctorate in economics after the war, in 1948, on the basis of the University of Chicago. For a long time he was engaged in a successful teaching career, reading his lectures at the University of Virginia, as well as in the most prestigious universities in Tennessee and Florida.

In 1969, he became the first ever director of the Center for the Study of Public Choice. He was also president of the Western and Southern Economic Associations, held the honorary post of vice president of the American Economic Association. The scientific works written by Buchanan contained materials on the topics of state debts, the theory of mutual services, the libertarian theory, the voting process and macroeconomics.

Work that brought recognition in world political economy

James Buchanan is an economist whose work is taken as the basis of modern political science and economics. He became the founder of the Virginia School of Political Economy. His work has become a kind of catalyst for further research, confirming that the various non-economic forces and personal interests of individual politicians have a direct impact on the economic policies of each country.

The public choice theory of James Buchanan allowed her author to become a Nobel Prize laureate. This man lived a long enough life, he was not in January 2013. Today his name is familiar to every political scientist and economist, and dozens of his scientific works are actively used in studying the theory and practice of making political and economic decisions.

Tobacco tycoon and father of modern cigarettes

The full name of the person whose brief biography we will consider further is James Buchanan Duke. He was born in North Carolina, in December 1856. He is called the father of a modern cigarette, and not for nothing.

In the 1880s he and his brother began to manage the tobacco campaign, the founder of which was their father - Washington Duke. Initially, their factory was just a small niche in the tobacco business. But two years later, James saw a new perspective. If earlier all cigarettes were twisted by workers manually, now, with the advent of the machine for automatic production of cigarettes, the process could be speeded up many times. And young Duke did everything to this machine he had.

He acquired a license for the world's first machine to automate the process of cigarette manufacturing, invented by mechanic James Bonsac. The factory's production has reached a new level. The machine neatly twisted one, an endless cigarette, and the knives, which rotated at equal distances, cut it into many small ones. The ends, which had previously been twisted by the workers manually, so that the tobacco did not dry out, was now saturated with special chemicals for the same purpose. Also, to improve taste, new cigarettes were soaked in molasses, glycerin or sugar.

The number of cigarettes produced increased at an incredible rate. If earlier in the factory James employees for a shift could make a maximum of 200 cigarettes, now, the car for the shift easily gave out 120 thousand units! Before James Buchanan Duke a new problem arose - selling. The volumes produced by his modernized factory amounted to one-fifth of what all America at that time smoked. And Duke was engaged in aggressive marketing. He was a sponsor at various events, distributed his cigarettes for free at various competitions, and also came up with the idea of investing in collector's cards. He joins with his main American rival and creates his monopoly - American Tobacco Company.

Only in one year 1889 he spent 800 thousand dollars on advertising. His cigarettes were popular with people, they said that it was he who taught America to smoke Camel. But huge volumes of production continued to demand new, huge sales markets.

Division of the market for tobacco products

In the early 1890s he was desperately trying to break into the British market, but there he was waiting for experienced industrialists who were not going to surrender. Under the threat of Duke's invasion into their space, they consolidated into a single corporation, which after some time tried to intrude itself into the American market of James. Through negotiations, a compromise was reached, which was arranged by all parties.

In this difficult period for James Buchanan, his business partners filed incessant claims against him. In the end, in 1911 the monopoly of the American Tobacco Company ceased to exist. According to the court decision, the company was divided into several small firms, and under James's control there was only one of them.

James's Energy Achievements

In the early twentieth century, Buchanan Duke founded several small energy companies, which in the future became the basis for the creation of the corporation Duke Energy. In addition to providing electricity to Duke textile factories (which he also handled quite successfully), the corporation provided electric light to many cities in South and North Carolina. On the territory of the latter in 1928, a reservoir was created, which provides the whole district with electricity. In time, it was named after James Buchanan Duke.

Not only the builder of the tobacco empire, but also the philanthropist of the university

History remembers this man not only as the father of a modern cigarette. With billions of dollars, in 1924, James decided to create his trust fund with a capital of $ 40 million.

Most of these funds, the philanthropist gave Darem University, which is now known as Duke University.

James Buchanan: a biography for which not ashamed

The name of this Buchanan will not be forgotten soon, because he did a lot to make the bright memory of him lived for centuries after his death. Most of his legacy Duke bequeathed to charity: the maintenance and development of Duke University, as well as educational institutions such as the University of D. Smith, Davidson College and Furman University. In addition, he left part of the money to a number of non-profit hospitals and orphanages located in North and South Carolina.

His world-famous daughter, Doris Duke, inherited all the remaining possessions and money of his father. In memory of him in the territory of Duke Farmes, she created an amazing winter garden, in which a magnificent collection of sculptures was placed. Doris called all this beauty the gardens of Duke.

One of the worst presidents in US history

Another man named James Buchanan left his mark in the history of the United States - XV President of America. His value as head of state is still considered highly ambiguous. Some historians boldly call it the worst of all US presidents, accusing them of passivity and indecisiveness. The main argument against Buchanan is that his government preceded the division of the States into the North and South and the subsequent onset of a severe Civil War.

Others believe that the opinion about the government of this president should not be so categorical. Do not forget that he had to manage the country in one of its most difficult periods. In the second half of the XIX century, the problem of slavery was very acute in America. The confrontation between the South and the North was unstoppable, and the course of events of history was no longer changing, so we can say that Buchanan, even being a president, was largely powerless.

The future XV President of America was born in April 1791 in Pennsylvania, in a rather poor large family. Despite this, the young man managed to get a legal education. His first professional experience he received, working as a lawyer during the Anglo-American War.

In the years 1814-1816. In his native state of Pennsylvania, he becomes a member of parliament. In 1831 he was appointed ambassador to the St. Petersburg House. And there he quite successfully signs the first trade agreement between America and Russia. Further, he served as a senator and foreign minister.

In 1856, the Democratic Party nominated his candidacy for the presidency. At that time in Kansas, there was a complicated situation - there were two warring governments (supporters and opponents of slavery). The state was waiting for a new president and his decision on the future fate of Kansas. Not wanting to aggravate an already difficult situation, James Buchanan decided to take Kansas to the slave states. Next, there was an uprising of slaves, which the US government harshly suppressed. And the suppression of this insurrection caused an even greater split and confrontation between the North and the South.

Political scientists and historians note that President Buchanan left his country in a terrible state, on the verge of a civil war between two irreconcilable camps, to his successor, A. Lincoln. Buchanan died in 1868, having managed, before his death, to write an essay justifying his policy. But especially it did not help him, because in history he remained the worst president of the United States.

Another character of "Marvel" by the name of James

And the last known Buchanan James, whose biography we consider in this article, at first glance, does not fit the company of previous heroes. He is just a fictional character whose biography was successfully invented by the Marvel writers. But it is worth noting that it was invented so successfully that comic book fans around the world are looking for this biography and are really interested in the details of the life of this fictional hero. This viewers first saw the character in 2010, when the "First Avenger" appeared on the wide screen.

So, according to the legend of "Marvel", James Buchanan Barnes (the actor who embodied his image on the screen - Sebastian Stan) was born in the distant 1917. He showed good results in various sports spheres, was a leader in his class. Once James noticed how the hooligans beat a weak boy, and stood up for him. This boy was Steve Rogers, who later became the legendary Captain America. After the incident, the guys became very friendly. With the outbreak of World War II, James Buchanan (Bucky) Barnes was drafted into the army, trained in the McCoy camp and sent to the Italian Front.

Winter Soldier named Buchanan

Further, he was captured by a detachment of Hydra and was taken prisoner, where he suffered a lot of mockery, torture and remained isolated for a long time. About this captivity finds out his childhood friend, already had time to become during the war Captain America. He rushes to save James and still frees him from captivity. James Buchanan (Bucky) joins the team of his friend who freed him, and their common goal is to wipe Hydra from the face of the earth. During one of the fights, James Buchanan Barnes fell out of the train, his body was not found, and everyone decided that he was dead.

In fact, Buchanan's body was found by one of the Hydra's units. He completely erased the memory, and for a long time over the body of James conducted all sorts of experiments. For several years he was plunged into an artificial dream, occasionally letting him wake up when it was necessary to carry out the order about the murder of any influential leader.

According to one of the orders of the Hydra, Buchanan had to kill Captain America, and for him it was not at all a problem, because his memory, which contained memories of childhood friendship, had long ago been erased. In carrying out this task, at the moment of a direct confrontation between Captain America and his friend, his flames began to return to his memory, and both friends remained alive. But James Buchanan, who was now called the Winter Soldier, then disappeared again.