President Buchanan, in a last effort to avoid South Carolina's secession, dispatched Caleb Cushing, a Democratic loyalist and chair of the Democratic National Convention in South Carolina during the summer, to ask the new governor to postpone the Secession Convention. In a short interview, Governor Pickens told Cushing that it was too late and "very candidly, that there was no hope for the Union." The Secession Convention was already underway - Cushing was invited to attend but refused - and South Carolina seceded within hours. (By John Osborne)