Franklin Pierce (1804-1869), "Handsom Frank," seemed like a decent enough choice for President of the United States in the election of 1852. He was intelligent and handsome, with a good sense of humor and the ability to communicate well with the people. He was, in terms of personality, a nineteenth-century JFK.
It was his term in office, however, which may have been responsible for leading America directly into the Civil War (or, at the very least, not doing nearly enough to stop it).
Early Life
Franklin Pierce was born and raised in New Hampshire (the only President to date from the state), and brought up in a certain amount of comfort. In his youth he became well educated, and while he was not noticeably intelligent, he certainly worked hard to overcome any intellectual difficulties he may have had.
Pierce studied law and was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1827 (at the age of 23), practicing law in Concord, and becoming quickly involved in local Democratic politics around the same time his father, Benjamin Pierce, was elected Governor of New Hampshire.
Pierce was elected to the lower house of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1828, serving there until 1833 and being named Speaker of the House during his final year.
His reason for leaving the state house was his election to the U.S. Congress (at only 27 he was the youngest Representative in Washington), where he served from 1833-1837, after which he moved up to the U.S. Senate, serving from 1837-1842.
So, by the time Franklin Pierce was 38 years old, he had served the public for more than fifteen years, and had risen rather quickly through the ranks of Government.
Leaving Politics
After leaving the Senate in 1842, Pierce returned to Concord, NH, where he resumed his law practice, refusing the Democratic nomination for Governor, as well as a nomination as Attorney General under President Polk.
Five years later, Pierce enlisted as a volunteer to fight in the Mexican-American War and was soon appointed to the rank of Brigadier General. Though he may not have explicitly earned this rank, he did fight admirably in the war, leading troops to reinforce General Winfield Scott, and being injured in the leg during a battle.
After the war, Pierce returned home to New Hampshire once again.
The Nomination
As the election of 1852 approached, Pierce's name was certainly not at the forefront of Democratic politics. In fact, he was not even among the top four contenders for his party's nomination as they entered their convention in order to choose their candidate.
He was fortunate, however, in the fact that the Democrats simply could not make up their mind about who to nominate in order to run against the nominee of the Whig party, General Scott (the same whom Pierce had served with during the war - and the last candidate the Whigs would ever nominate for President).
As a result of the party infighting, Pierce's name was finally put forward as a comprimise candidate. He was well-liked in his party, and lacked the controversy of the other candidates (he had not been outspoken on such controversial topics as slavery, thus alienating neither the northerners or southerners). Finally, on the 49th ballot, Pierce was nominated unanimously, and went on to win the general election in a landslide victory (254 electoral votes to only 42 for Scott).
Failed Presidency
Franklin Pierce, likeable as he may have been, picked a poor time to become President. While tensions had eased somewhat thanks to the controversial Comprimise of 1850 under President Fillmore, the slavery controversy still dominated the public domain in Washington.
Pierce's Presidency may earn praise for a few things - he appointed a very diverse group of men to his cabinet, and was able to keep them all working together throughout his entire four year term (a first and only in the history of the Presidency, as of 2008), and for the most part took a strong stance on foreign policy issues.
The legacy of Pierce, however, may very well be defined by only two issues - the Ostend Manifesto, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
The former was a secret document signed by several members of Pierce's cabinet which discussed the need for America to take control of Spanish-owned Cuba, even if by force. When this document surfaced, it was seen as being a coupe for the south, for Cuba would surely enter the union as another slave state (this fact was supported by the document itself).
The latter, and surely far greater in terms of impact, was a consideration of the adjecent territories of Kansas and Nebraska and their admission to the union as either slave or free states. Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas (famous for his opposition to Abraham Lincoln's first senatorial bid) proposed legislation that would let all new territories decide the issue for themselves.
While to some this may have sounded constitutionally sound - allowing the states a certain amount of sovereignty over the issue - it effectively served to nullify two of the only thin strands that were serving to hold the nation together - the Missouri Comprimise of 1820 and the Comprimise of 1850.
After great debate, the legislation passed through congress in May 1854, Pierce signed it, and in the eyes of many, the Civil War became inevitable. For with the passage of this act, every new territory would be able to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery, thus nullifying any federal attempt to curtail the practice.
In Kansas, where a vote was quickly held to determine slave or free status, abolitionists moved in from the west in order to vote to make the new state free, while pro-slavery advocates from the south did the opposite. This led to a miniature Civil War, and certainly an omen of things to come.
Legacy
The issue of slavery dominated the vast majority of Pierce's term in office, and his indecisiveness and failure to act in this one issue painted him as an overall ineffective administrator. Come time for renomination, his own party shunned him, opting instead for James Buchanan.
He was rightly labeled by many as a "doughface" - a northern man with southern principles and sympathies. Not exactly the most popular sort of politician in this era.
Pierce left the office a failure, retreating to a private life as a depressed alcoholic (a far cry from the handsome, Pierce of before). When the Civil War broke out, he earned no points with the people of his home state by siding with the confederacy. He died in 1869 to little national mourning.
References:
"Franklin Pierce." American Presidents: An Online Reference Resource.
"Biography of Franklin Pierce." The White House.
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