Pierce

Franklin, the fourteenth president of the United States. He was born in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, November 23, 1804. His father was a general in the War of the American Independence and later became governor of New Hampshire. Young Franklin was educated at Bowdoin, Maine. Nathaniel Hawthorne was a student at the same time. A friendship formed between the young men continued through life. After graduation Pierce taught school, studied law, and settled down to practice in the town of his birth. He was a man of good appearance and address and a pleasing public speaker. In politics he was an ardent follower of Andrew Jackson. At twenty-five years of age he was elected to the legislature of his own state. In 1833 he was sent to Congress. Four years later he was elected United States senator. During the Mexican War he served as brigadier-general. His views on the slavery question being satisfactory to the Southern wing of the Democracy, he was nominated and elected president in 1852. On the occasion of his inaugural, a platform of New Hampshire pine was erected over the steps of the eastern portico of the federal capitol. He took the oath of office in a blinding storm of sleet. His cabinet was wisely chosen and served without change during his entire term. Among the events of his administration were the Gadsden Purchase, the Ostend Manifesto, the settlement of the boundary with Mexico, the beginning of commercial relations with Japan, and the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. So far as appointing a governor and other official acts were concerned Pierce aided the pro-slavery element in the Kansas struggle. In fact he sent a special message to Congress declaring the formation of an anti-slavery government in Kansas an act of rebellion. His attitude in this matter cut off his Northern support. He was not renominated for the presidency. At the outbreak of the Civil War he supported the national government. While the historian does not accord Pierce a leading position among the presidents of the United States, he is regarded as a man of fair ability, of integrity, and of kind feeling. He died at Concord, New Hampshire, October 8, 1869. See Hawthorne