James S. Buchanan

James Shannon Buchanan (October 14, 1864 – March 20, 1930) was the fourth president of the University of Oklahoma. Buchanan was born in 1864 to Thomas and Rebecca Jane in Franklin, Tennessee. His grandfather, Major John Buchanan, was one of the founders of Nashville, Tennessee. Also, his brother, John P. Buchanan was a governor of Tennessee. He graduated from Cumberland University in 1885 with a Bachelor of Science degree and he did graduate work... more

James Shannon Buchanan (October 14, 1864 – March 20, 1930) was the fourth president of the University of Oklahoma. Buchanan was born in 1864 to Thomas and Rebecca Jane in Franklin, Tennessee. His grandfather, Major John Buchanan, was one of the founders of Nashville, Tennessee. Also, his brother, John P. Buchanan was a governor of Tennessee. He graduated from Cumberland University in 1885 with a Bachelor of Science degree and he did graduate work at both Vanderbilt University and the University of Chicago. He received his LL.D. from Kingfisher College in 1917. Buchanan was one of two southern Democrats on the faculty prior to Oklahoma becoming a state. Because of this, he was one of the few who survived the cuts the newly elected Democratic governor of Oklahoma, Charles N. Haskell, made to the University; cuts which included the first president of Oklahoma, David Ross Boyd. He came to the university in 1895 as a professor of history. Through the years, he progressed up the ranks. Soon... less