Jehu Glancy Jones (October 7, 1811 – March 24, 1878) was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Often called "Glancy", he was a top adviser on Democratic Party affairs to his close friend James Buchanan, especially when President-elect Buchanan was picking his cabinet in 1856-1857. After he was defeated for reelection, Buchanan appointed him Ambassador to the Austrian Empire.
He was a delegate to the Democratic State conventions in 1848, 1849, and 1855, and served as president in 1855. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1848 and 1856 and served as vice president in 1848.
In terms of his legacy to American history, biographer Michael Todd Landis states:
Leading Northern Democrats such as Jones and Buchanan were not romantic defenders of working men, as some scholars have claimed; nor were they moderates striving to save the Union from extreme sectionalism. Rather, they were proslavery activists whose willful actions had direct and disastrous effects on the nation. Their policies enraged free-state voters and caused the fatal split in the Democratic Party that resulted in Lincoln’s election, which, in turn, triggered disunion. They were culpable and responsible—a fact that should not be forgotten or overlooked.[2]
