PIERCE, FRANKLIN (1804-1869), fourteenth president of the United States, was born at Hillsboro, New Hampshire, Nov. 23, 1804. His father, Benjamin Pierce
served in the American army throughout the Revolutionary War, was a Democratic member of the New Hampshire house of representa tives from 1789 to 18o1, and was governor of the State in 1827. The son was prepared for college at Hancock, Francestown and Exeter academies and entered Bowdoin in 1820, where he formed a lifelong friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne. After his gradu ation in 1824 he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1827. Entry into Politics.—Entering politics as a Democrat he became a member of the New Hampshire house of representa tives in 1829, and was speaker of that body in 1831 and 1832.
The following year he entered the national house of representa tives. While he rarely spoke from the floor, he was an influential member of several committees, including the judiciary com mittee. A friend of President Jackson he supported administra tion policies. He adhered to a strict construction of the Federal Constitution, defended the Maysville veto, opposed the recharter of the bank of the United States, opposed appropriations to the U. S. military academy and favoured a volunteer army. During his first term in Congress he married Jane Means Appleton, daughter of the president of Bowdoin college. In 1837 he entered the U.S. Senate. Being its youngest member, he was overshadowed by a galaxy of older and more prominent men such as Benton, Clay and Webster. Before his term expired he resigned his seat (1842) and returned to the practice of law at Concord, N.H., where he became Federal district attorney. In 1845 he was offered the Democratic nomination for governor of New Hamp shire, also an appointment to fill an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate, and the next year the position of attorney-general in Polk's cabinet ; but he rejected them all, declaring that he had permanently retired from political life.
after the outbreak of the war with Mexico in 1846 Pierce enlisted as a private at Concord, but soon became colonel of the 9th Regiment, and later a briga dier-general of volunteers. He was with Gen. Scott in the advance toward Mexico City. During the battle of Contreras he was thrown from his horse and received painful injuries. Despite the advice of Scott to the contrary he insisted on continuing the fight the next day and in the course of the battle he fainted. This fact, variously interpreted, was used both for and against him when he was later a candidate for the presidency. At the close
of the war he returned to his law practice.
became the Democratic nominee for president in 1852 "as a dark horse." Those in the foreground were Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas and James Bu chanan, but none of these proved to be available because of fac tional rivalries. A few politicians, foreseeing a deadlock, had pre pared Pierce for the place. At the convention in Baltimore in June his name was first brought forward by the Virginia delega tion on the 35th ballot, and on the 49th ballot he received an almost unanimous vote. Both the Democrats and the Whigs were too badly split for any real issues to appear in the campaign. The chief question in the public mind was the finality of the Compro mise of 1850, and while both parties declared themselves in favour of it the Democrats were more thoroughly united in its support. As a result Pierce swept the country in the November election, receiving 254 electoral votes against 42 for his opponent, Gen. Winfield Scott.
youngest man to have been elevated to the presidency, Pierce was handsome, genial and possessed of a certain brilliance, which however was not profound. The Eastern element of the Democratic party which he directly represented was inclined for the sake of harmony and prosperity to oppose anti-slavery agitation and generally to placate South ern opinion. It was hence pro-Southern as a matter not only of political strategy but also of business expediency. Thus in the selection of his cabinet, as in both domestic and foreign policies of his administration, Pierce represented a coalition of Southern planters and Eastern business men. His cabinet included William L. Marcy of New York, secretary of state ; Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, secretary of war ; James Guthrie of Kentucky, secre tary of the treasury; James C. Dobbin of North Carolina, secre tary of the navy; Robert McClelland of Michigan, secretary of the interior ; James Campbell of Pennsylvania, postmaster-gen eral ; and Caleb Cushing of Massachusetts, attorney-general. In his inaugural address Pierce interpreted his election as a popular mandate to maintain the Compromise of 1850 and bury the slavery controversy. He also forecast an aggressive, but hon ourable, foreign policy; he would "not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil from expansion." In fact "the acquisition of certain possessions" (doubtless referring to Cuba in particular) was deemed essential to the country's safety and commerce.