My wife and daughters have a family connection to President Pierce through one of his brothers. This also makes them distant relatives of Barbara (Pierce) Bush and George W. Bush. So I guess that means I need to try and put a positive spin on his presidency; might be tough.
in 1804, Pierce was born in a log cabin in New Hampshire to a veteran of the American Revolution. Pierce studied law and passed the bar in 1827. He entered politics right away and was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1828. He served in the State House from 1828 – 1833, the last 2 years as Speaker of the House (his father was Governor of New Hampshire during this time). In 1832 he was elected to the first of two terms in the US House of Representatives. He was only 27 and, at the time, the youngest serving congressman. After his two terms, he was elected by the General Court of New Hampshire to a term as a United States Senator (at 32, he was again the youngest in his time). On a side note, the General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of New Hampshire and has 400 members of the lower house and 24 in the upper house. With 424 members, it is the largest state legislature in the country and the 4th largest English-speaking legislature in the world!
During the Mexican War, Pierce volunteered for service and became a brigadier general. He was wounded while serving with General Winfield Scott during the Battle of Contreras. There are differing views on his wound, but during the battle his horse apparently fell on him, injuring his leg. He returned the next day and fought during the Battle of Churubusco; however, the pain in his leg was so bad that he fainted and had to be carried off the field of battle. This would give fodder to his political opponents in later years. After the war he returned to his law practice in New Hampshire.
When the presidential campaign of 1852 got started, Pierce wasn’t even a blip on the radar. The major Democratic contenders were Stephen Douglas, James Buchanan, Lewis Cass and William Marcy. None of the 4 candidates could even get a majority of the vote, not even close to the prerequisite two-thirds of the vote. After 35 votes, Pierce’s name was tossed in as a compromise candidate. Pierce had shown himself to be a consistent supporter of the Democratic ideals; his service in the Mexican War would allow the party to portray him as a war hero. He had never fully explained his views on slavery, so all of the various factions viewed him as a reasonable compromise to their personal preferences. On the 49th vote, Pierce was nominated as the Democratic candidate for president.
Pierce’s opponent in the 1852 election was his old commander during the Mexican War General Winfield Scott. The platform that Scott ran on was not much different than Pierce’s platform. In addition, Pierce did not have any strongly held political views and Scott was on record as anti-slavery. The contest turned into a personality contest between the two candidates with Pierce emerging victorious. He took 27 of the 31 states.
The joy of winning the election was soon turned into sorrow with the death of their last son (the other two had died young). Pierce and his wife were riding on a train from Boston when it derailed. They emerged unharmed, but their son Benjamin (“Bennie”) was killed right in front of Pierce. I’ve read differing accounts on the extent of the injuries to Bennie, but all are gruesome. Pierce’s wife, Jane, was never really the same. She had been against Pierce going back into politics and being highly religous saw this as divine punishment.
Pierce took office during a relatively peaceful and prosperous time in American history. The issue of slavery had cooled down with the passage of the Compromise of 1850. It was not to last.
The first major policy initiative of the administration had become known as the Ostend Manifesto. The Ostend Manifesto basically stated that the United States was willing to buy Cuba from Spain (not the first or last time we attempted to acquire Cuba). The controversial section of the document was that it suggested that if Spain refused to sell Cuba, that the US would be justified in taking it by force. It was especially unpopular in the North, as it was viewed as a chance to further expand slavery.
A success of the administration was the Gadsden Purchase (although like all land acquisitions raised the issue of the expansion of slavery). Several business leaders had pushed to create a southern transcontinental railroad. The southern portion of the land, recently acquired from Mexico, was viewed as being too mountainous. If the US could acquire just a tad bit more land from Mexico, the adjoining territory would be much more suitable for a railroad. Pierce sent James Gadsden (with urging from his Secretary of State Jefferson Davis) to Mexico to purchase the additional lands. A deal was struck in which the US purchased the southern portions of current New Mexico and Arizona.
A final major piece of legislation passed during the Pierce administration was the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Davis had a provision attached to the bill that nullified the Missouri Compromise. One aspect of the act was that it allowed the residents of the states to decide the question of slavery. The effect in Kansas was that pro-slavery settlers crossed the border from Missouri to vote in the elections. The impact was the election of a pro-slavery government. It was felt in Kansas that the new government was illegitimate and a “shadow government” was set up based on the Topeka Constitution; Pierce supported, and would continue to support, the pro-slavery legislature. The turmoil over the whole affair led to violent demonstrations, riots and murders in what has become known as Bleeding Kansas.
Based in large part on the outcry over the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Pierce fell out of favor with his party and was not re-nominated in 1856. Over the next few presidential elections there was usually a push to get Pierce to run again, but he did not. His reputation was further damaged when copies of his correspondence with Jefferson Davis were discovered after the Battle of Vicksburg. He had maintained a friendship with his former Secretary of State during the Civil War.
Pierce died in 1869 at the age of 64 from the deteriorating effects of alcoholism. His wife Jane had already passed away six years prior.
Something that's been a small tickle in the back of my brain is the Civil War. Reading these biographies on the presidents, it seems that several of them leading up to the Civil War were pro south (or at least not anti south). Taylor was a slave holder and both Pierce and Buchanen were southern sympathizers. So, I'm not sure why the south felt that the federal government was against them, to the point of seccession. The majority of the policies of the federal government were, if not pro south, certainly did not have the intention of ending slavery. There were those that felt slavery should not be extended into the new territories, but that hardly seems like motive for a civil war.
Trivia:
- At 48, Pierce was the youngest president inaugurated, a distinction he would pass to Grant, who was inaugurated in 1869 at 46.
- Pierce chose to "affirm" his oath of office rather than swear it, becoming the first president to do so; he placed his hand on a law book rather than on a Bible whilst doing so. He was also the first president to recite his inaugural address from memory.
- Pierce’s initial cabinet remained intact for his entire 4-year term; as of now, it is still the only cabinet to have done so.
- The town of Pierceton, Indiana is named for Franklin Pierce
- The site of his birth is now under Franklin Pierce Lake (the only president that you need scuba gear to visit the birth place)
- First president born in the 19th century
- There is a big controversy over whether it was Franklin Pierce or Benjamin Harrison that had the first Christmas tree in the White House
- Pierce is one of the few presidents that do not have any descendents related to them directly
- Pierce was referred to as a “doughface” or Northerner with Southern sympathies. The term doughface is a disparaging term for a politician who is seen to be pliable or moldable.
