Franklin Pierce
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Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 - October 8, 1869) had served as the 14th President of the United States from 1853-1857.
Born in New Hampshire on November 23, 1804, Pierce served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1833 until his election to the Senate from 1837 until 1842. After studying law, he would go on to serve as a Brigadier General for the Mexican-American War, most notably the Battle of Contreras and would help gain control of Mexico City. In the 1852 election, he and his running mate William Rufus King defeated the Whig candidate Winfield Scott.
As a supporter of the Transcontinental Railroad, he signed the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico, as well as lowering the national debt and signing a trade treaty with Britain and Japan. But these events were heavily overshadowed by political issues in America, such as slavery. Believing that the abolitionist movement was a threat to America, he was known to be a doughface and ended up alienating people with anti-slavery views by signing the Kansas-Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act. His reputation was further damaged when he and the diplomats wanted to unlawfully annex Cuba. It was called the Ostend Manifesto.
His personal life was filled with tragedy. Three of his children died and his wife, Jane, suffered from illness and depression that plagued her for the rest of her life. Their last surviving son was killed in a train accident before Pierce was inaugurated in 1853. This further hurt him that he was unable to tackle the issues he was facing as president.
A lifelong drinker, he died of liver cirrhosis at the age of 64 on October 8, 1869.
Trivia edit
- His father, Benjamin Pierce, served in the Revolutionary War.
- He was a Brigadier General and led the troops in the Battle of the Conteras where he was injured, but would later capture Mexico City.
- He was the only president from New Hampshire.
- Despite supporting secession, he supported his former War Secretary Jefferson Davis.
- He was the first president of several things.
- First president to have a Christmas tree in the White House
- First president to retain his original cabinet members for the remainder of his four-year tenure
- First president to deliver his inauguration speech from memory
- First president to install central heating in the White House