Franklin Pierce - Council Rock School District
PR14
Franklin Pierce
[pic]
At a Glance
Term: 14th President of the United States (1853-1857)
Born: November 23, 1804, Hillsborough (now Hillsboro), New Hampshire
Nickname: "Young Hickory of the Granite Hills" and “Handsome Frank”
Formal Education: Bowdoin College (graduated 1824)
Religion: Episcopalian
Marriage: November 19, 1834, to Jane Means Appleton (1806-1863)
Children: Franklin (1836); Frank Robert (1839-1843); Benjamin (1841-1853)
Career: Lawyer, Public Official
Political Party: Democrat
Died: October 8, 1869, Concord, New Hampshire
Buried: Old North Cemetery, Concord, New Hampshire
Presidential Life in Brief: Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, came to office during a period of growing tension between the North and South. A politician of limited ability, Pierce was behind one of the most crucial pieces of legislation in American history. Although he did not author the Kansas-Nebraska Act, he did encourage its passage by Congress. And that piece of legislation set the nation on its path to civil war.
Pierce won the election of 1852 easily in a contest in which nearly 70 percent of the eligible voters cast ballots. Pierce had majorities in both houses of Congress, and hopes grew for a cooling of the sectional disagreements dividing Americans. Pierce was the youngest President to date.
Two months before he was inaugurated, Pierce lost his only surviving child (two others had already died) in a train accident witnessed by both parents. Jane Pierce never recovered. She lived in the White House as a recluse, while the President remained distracted from his duties. Jane Pierce was the most tragic and unhappy First Lady in American history. To White House visitors she seemed like a sad ghost. Social functions were almost unheard of during the first half of the Pierce administration, and one official noted in his diary that "everything in that mansion seems cold and cheerless." There were other reasons for sadness in the White House when two of Pierce's closest political allies died.
It could be said that Franklin Pierce had little business being President, but in a nation fragmenting over slavery, only a bland, affable political lightweight was palatable to the electorate. Yet the irony of Franklin Pierce's administration is that a man less than qualified to be President was behind one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation in American history. Once pressured into backing the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Pierce accelerated the course towards civil war. In the 1850s, disputes over slavery were so emotionally charged that both sides sought moderate leaders. Franklin Pierce was one of these and thus became President of the United States.
Committed to a political style that emphasized party cohesion and compromise as a means of downplaying sectional differences, Pierce's leadership lacked the strength and tenacity of a Jackson or a Lincoln. As a result, tumultuous events simply overwhelmed him and he was sometimes dominated by forceful politicians like Stephen Douglas. For most historians, Pierce is viewed as an inept chief executive whose traditional style of leadership failed in the face of the massive electoral divisions over slavery and the aggressiveness of southerners. But other Presidents were unable to solve these issues, short of war. And from that war came two worthwhile results, the emancipation of the slaves and the restoration of the Union. Still, Franklin Pierce serves as an example of why difficult times require forceful leadership that is sensitive to issues both of change and continuity.
[pic]
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related download
- career powerpoint project mr exley s site
- about the law council of australia
- career research assignment sheet
- thirty five years of progress in educating children with
- franklin pierce council rock school district
- 8th grade career project weebly
- the lawyer european awards amazon web services
- edu
- competency examples with performance statements
- please post please post third judicial circuit of
Related searches
- wisconsin school district report cards
- university school district jobs
- texas school district report cards
- university place school district jobs
- tea school district report card
- university city school district calendar
- school district of university city
- school district report cards texas
- u city school district employment
- university city school district employment
- university city school district website
- university place school district employment