author
Franklin Pierce
1804–1869
A skilled New Hampshire politician and lawyer, he rose to the presidency just as the United States was splitting over slavery. His time in office is remembered less for calm leadership than for decisions that deepened the crisis before the Civil War.
1 Audiobook
State of the Union Addresses
by Franklin Pierce
About the author
Born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, in 1804, Franklin Pierce built an early career in law and politics, serving in the New Hampshire legislature and later in both the U.S. House and Senate. He also gained national notice for his service in the Mexican-American War, which helped return him to public life after a period away from Washington.
Pierce became the 14th president of the United States in 1853. A Democrat from the North who hoped compromise could preserve the Union, he backed measures that were meant to quiet sectional conflict but instead inflamed it. His administration is especially tied to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the fierce political turmoil that followed, leaving him widely judged as a president who failed to slow the nation’s slide toward civil war.
His personal life was marked by deep tragedy, including the deaths of all three of his children. After leaving office, he remained a controversial public figure and spent his final years in New Hampshire, where he died in 1869.