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14th President · Democratic

Franklin Pierce

Served: March 4, 1853 — March 4, 1857

At a glance

Lived: November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869
Home State: New Hampshire
Party: Democratic
Vice President: William R. King

Brief biography

Franklin Pierce was a Northern Democrat whose presidency was consumed by the slavery crisis. A brigadier general in the Mexican–American War and former senator from New Hampshire, he signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act in 1854, repealing the Missouri Compromise and opening the northern territories to slavery by popular sovereignty. The resulting violence in 'Bleeding Kansas' foreshadowed the Civil War. His administration also produced the leaked Ostend Manifesto, which proposed seizing Cuba from Spain and was widely repudiated. New Hampshire lawyer and legislator, U.S. Representative and Senator, brigadier general in the Mexican–American War.

Education

Bowdoin College, 1824.

Notable achievements while in Office

Gadsden Purchase (1853), acquiring the southern strip of Arizona and New Mexico for a transcontinental railroad route. Signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act (1854).

Controversies

Signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened the northern territories to slavery by 'popular sovereignty.' The resulting violence in Kansas foreshadowed the Civil War. The Ostend Manifesto — his administration's proposal to seize Cuba from Spain — was leaked and repudiated.

Legacy

Pierce was a talented politician overwhelmed by the moral crisis he refused to see. His party never recovered in the North.

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