Franklin Pierce

Who was Franklin Pierce?

Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States, whose inability to calm national tensions over slavery hastened the eventual outbreak of the Civil War. Genial and well-spoken, Pierce was a northern, pro-slavery Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the nation. While he desired to preserve the Union peacefully, his polarizing actions worsened the Bleeding Kansas confrontations and set the stage for Southern secession, leaving him widely regarded as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history.

Born and educated in New Hampshire, Pierce served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate until his family obligations led him to leave Washington in 1841. His private law practice in his home state was a success; he was appointed a U.S. Attorney in 1845. Pierce took part in the Mexican–American War and became a brigadier general in the Army. Seen by Democrats as a compromise candidate uniting Northern and Southern interests, he was nominated as the party's candidate for president on the 49th ballot at the 1852 Democratic National Convention. In the presidential election, Pierce and his running mate William R.

Famous Quotes:

• If the Federal Government will confine itself to the exercise of powers clearly granted by the Constitution , it can hardly happen that its action upon any question should endanger the institutions of the States or interfere with their right to manage matters strictly domestic according to the will of their own people.
• The founders of the Republic dealt with things as they were presented to them, in a spirit of self-sacrificing patriotism, and, as time has proved, with a comprehensive wisdom which it will always be safe for us to consult.
• ...involuntary servitude, as it exists in different states of this confederacy, is recognized by the Constitution.