Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, came to office during a period of growing tension between the North and South. A politician of limited ability, Pierce was behind one of the most crucial pieces of legislation in American history. Although he did not author the Kansas-Nebraska Act, he did encourage its passage by Congress. And that piece of legislation set the nation on its path to civil war. Born on a frontier farm on November 23, 1804, in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, Franklin Pierce was the second son of Benjamin and Ann Kendrick Pierce. He had four brothers and three sisters. His father, a militia general served in the American Revolution and was a passionate Jeffersonian Democrat. He exerted great influence on his son teaching him his own devotion to public service and his sense of patriotism. As a youth, young Franklin attended private schools, attending the local Hillsborough School until the age of 12. He entered Bowdoin College at the age of 15. He graduated in 1824. In 1826 he entered law school in Northampton, Massachusetts, and proved to have a keen aptitude for the law. After studying law for three years he was admitted to the bar in Hillsborough County. In 1829 Pierce, at age of 24, was elected to the New Hampshire State legislature. He served four-years in this office and was named Speaker of the House. At the age of 29 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. Pierce's record in Congress was undistinguished. An opponent of the abolitionists, he was one of the sponsors of the gag rule against antislavery petitions in Congress. He gave unflinching partisan support to all Democratic measures except internal improvements. On November 10, 1834, Pierce married Jean Means Appleton, daughter of a former president of Bowdoin College. They had three sons, two who died in childhood and the third son was killed in a railroad accident at the age of 11. Although Pierce was popular with his colleagues his life in Washington was not happy. His wife detested the capital's lively social life and the occasionally excessive drinking in which her husband indulged. She rarely accompanied him to Washington. A supporter of Andrew Jackson's policies, he was elected to the United States Senate in 1837, the youngest senator at that time. Overshadowed by such orators as Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun, he seldom took part in debate. At the urging of his wife, Pierce resigned from the Senate in 1842 to practice law in Concord, New Hampshire. He became one of the leading members of the Concord Regency, a group of Democratic political leaders who dominated the party in New Hampshire. President James Polk appointed him United States District Attorney in 1845. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he enlisted in the Army as a private. Serving under General Winfield Scott in the campaign against Mexico City, he was commissioned as a Brigadier General. A painful injury resulting from a fall off his horse prevented Pierce from taking part at Contreras, and illness kept him out of action at Chapultepec. At the end of the war, Pierce resigned from the Army. Although he had refused all offers of public office after his resignation from the Senate, Pierce maintained an active interest in politics. As the Democratic Convention met in 1852, the delegates agreed upon a platform pledging undeviating support of the Compromise of 1850 and hostility to any efforts to agitate the slavery question. There were so many strong candidates for the presidential nomination it was impossible for one to win the required two-thirds vote. To break the deadlock the convention finally nominated Pierce on the 49th ballot and eliminated all the well-known candidates. Pierce was a true dark horse candidate. Opposing Pierce was Whig nominee, General Winfield Scott. Because the Democrats stood more firmly for the Compromise than the Whigs and General Scott was suspect in the South, Pierce carried all but four of the 31 states, receiving an electoral vote of 254 to Scott's 42. Out of more than 3 million popular votes, Pierce led his combined opponents by only 60,000. His presidential term began under a severe emotional strain. Two months before the inauguration, he, his wife, and son were involved in a train accident resulting in the horrible death of their only remaining child, Benjamin. Jane Pierce blamed Franklin's political ambitions for their son's death. Grief stricken and nervously exhausted, Pierce assumed the Presidency. His tenure in office was not considered a success. His distraught wife withdrew from society and he was denied the supportive home life that might have eased the burdens of his presidency. In his Inaugural he proclaimed an era of peace and prosperity at home, and vigor in relations with other nations. During his administration Pierce faced a series of troubles. He created a sectionally balanced cabinet and planned an aggressive foreign policy in hope of quieting the slavery controversy. Nonetheless, he only had to make gestures toward expansion to excite the wrath of northerners that felt that he was sympathetic with Southerners eager to extend slavery into other areas. The most violent anger stemmed from the fact that a group of influential senators convinced him to support the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act repealing the Missouri Compromise and reopening the question of slavery in the West. The decision as to whether slavery should be permitted was left to the settlers themselves. With his failure to distribute patronage to his friends and his resulting lack of strength in Congress, Pierce was forced to support the Kansas-Nebraska bill in order to please its sponsor, Senator Stephen A. Douglas. This ill-considered measure split both major parties and greatly aggravated the conflict between the free and the slave states. The result was a rush into Kansas, as southerners and northerners vied for control of the territory. Shooting broke out, and "Bleeding Kansas" gave American's a foretaste of the Civil War. This administration's record on foreign affairs was also disappointing with only a few successes to its credit. With the exception of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 through which the United States acquired land from Mexico, his expansionary projects miscarried. The administration failed in its efforts to acquire Cuba. The Ostend Manifesto that declared that if Spain would not sell Cuba, the United States should take the island by force embarrassed the president and aroused further controversy over the extension of slavery. The administration was forced to renounce the document. Pierce sought his party's re-nomination for President in 1856. Few favored this action and the Democrats refused to re-nominate him and instead nominated James Buchanan. In 1857 Pierce retired from public life and returned to New Hampshire to practice law leaving his successor to face the rising controversies. His opposition to President Abraham Lincoln's actions during the Civil War made him extremely unpopular in the North. Pierce died on October 8, 1869 in Concord, Massachusetts.
Pierce is ranked among the least effective Presidents as well as an indecisive politician who was easily influenced. He was unable to command as President and provide the needed National leadership.
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