President Franklin Pierce, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, Jul, 2013

I returned from Fairfield, Vermont to Concord, New Hampshire where I spent the night at a Comfort Inn. It is interesting and frustrating when it comes to my lap top and getting on the Internet at these motels. With few exceptions have I ever gotten on without a lot and fuss and bother. Such was not  the case here. I was detecting the Internet but just could not connect. After fussing for a while I took the lap top out to the registration desk where a nice young lady said let me " at that thing " and after about 10 minutes she finally got connection. Said she did not know why it didn't connect and she did not know what she did. I carried the lap top back to the room while still on and connected. You should have seen me going back to the room carrying that thing like a bunch of eggs afraid to bump it and loose my connection. Where is the camera when I need it.

Enough of that you want to hear about President Franklin Pierce. He was a very interesting man and came from a very interesting family. He was the Fourteenth President Of The United States and he served from 1853 till 1857. He was born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire on November 23, 1804 to Benjamin and Anna B. Kendrick  and he died October 8, 1869 in Concord, New Hampshire. Franklin's father      ( Benjamin ) served in the Revolutionary War. His father overcame a background  of poverty as he was able and determined as well as ambitious. He had two life principals  hard work and a strong belief of public responsibility. He  attained  prosperity, business success, a good reputation and served as Governor of New Hampshire for two terms.

Benjamin Franklin Pierce Father Of Franklin Pierce

President Franklin Pierce

 His father was very influential in young Franklin's life and Franklin  seemed to have inherited his father's political instinct. He served in the New Hampshire legislation, speaker of the house,( was the youngest to be selected as Speaker of the New Hampshire house ), United States Congressman, and the United States Senate. He was the consummate politician  and a successful lawyer. He was known for his oratory style and people would come from miles around  to hear him argue a case. He had the reputation of taking cases regardless of the potential for financial gain. He gained widespread notice when he successfully defended the Shakers against eviction from the State Of New Hampshire. Apparently he developed a drinking problem started 1832 when he was elected to congress.and he felt alone and isolated. Soon he was in desperate shape for help. There are differing accounts of how severe his drinking problem actually was. There are letters where he describes dinner affairs where wine was served and he did not have a drink. Regardless, He found the help in the person of Jane Means Appleton the daughter of a devout Congregationalist minister. Her restrained and religious demeanor  seemed to temper Franklin's social habits. He married her in 1834. After regaining control of his life he then served in the United States/ Mexican War. He enlisted as a Private and was appointed a Brigadier General by President Polk. Pierce was injured in the line of duty but refused to leave his men.

Franklin Pierce In His Brigadier General Frock Coat

The Democratic Party was deeply divided in 1852 and after 49 ballots Franklin Pierce was selected to be a compromise candidate for president. He opposed Winfield Scott the Whig candidate. Scott had been the Commander of U. S. Forces during the Mexican War. Just as deeply divided electorate still elected him to be president. He won 27 of 31 states in the general election. So to speak he had two strikes against him before he entered the White House. Considering the divided electorate in the nation and Democratic Party and the overall state of the nation he entered the White House with deep personal scars that many historians believe affected his ability to govern the nation.  Franklin and his wife Jane had two boys who died very young and their 14 year old son Benjamin was killed in a train wreck before their eyes only two months before Inauguration Day. Mrs. Pierce never totally recovered from this loss and was very frail and Franklin was troubled all the rest of his life and it is thought he had a serious drinking problem developed again in his late life.  Mrs Pierce entered a year long period of mourning following the death of Benjamin and did not accompany President Pierce to Washington, D. C.  In the last years of his presidency she did come to Washington and hosted dinners at the White House, etc but she dislike Washington intently. In some letters home she described 3 or 4 dinners a week,

In his term as president he did not please anyone. Although the Civil War was still a few years off the sign of growing trouble were obvious. All attempts he made to reconcile differences between the North and South failed. Governing wise Franklin was a strict constitutional  constructionist. Here is a real paradox. Before he entered the Office Of President of the United states he was considered the most popular politician in New Hampshire yet when he left office and came home to Concord, the capitol city refused to give him an official welcome. How that must have hurt him on top of all his personal losses. On top of this his party did not nominated him for a second term. As I will discuss in the posting about The Franklin Pierce Homestead there were a lot of other issues that affected his popularity. Interestingly Pierce is one of two presidents who have been called " Forgotten Presidents ". All of this aside Pierce did accomplish several of his objectives which included:

   A. Expanding our national borders with the Gadsden purchase. Toward the end of the United States and           Mexico war there was an area of land in southern Texas and Arizona that had been surveyed but the             survey was  later  found to have significant errors as to where the Rio Grande River  and certain town          were actually located. So to finally settle this dispute the United States purchased the area outright and          finally bringing the war to an end.

   B. Improving United States  relations with Canada and Great Britain with the Canadian Reciprocity Treaty.        This treaty concerned trade of raw materials and was in force 1854 - 1865. It was a move toward free           trade.

   C. Established trade between Japan and the United  States.

   D. Reduced the National debt from $75 million to $30 million a reduction of 60 percent.

   E. Modernized the United States Army and Navy. He added 11 new steamships including the Niagara               which laid the transatlantic cable from Newfoundland to Ireland.

   F. Lowered the tariff to its lowest level since 1815.

   G. Established the authority of the Attorney General over all U. S. attorneys and courts.

   H. With Pierce support Commodore Perry returned to Japan and was finally successful in establishing                 trade with Japan.

   I. The Pendleton Act established the Civil Service Department with testing requirement to ensure qualified          applicants were employed. This put a stop to the end of filling these positions by nepotism and greatly            improved the efficiency of the government.

   J. No corruption was tolerated as had been in the prior administration

Most controversial and most remembered was his support of the Kansas/Nebraska Act, which allowed settlers in these areas to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. This act prompted a violent clash between pro and anti slavery supporters known as " Bloody Kansas ".  President Pierce personally opposed slavery but believed the constitution allowed for it and he fervently believed it was his duty to uphold the constitution.

In the next posting we will take a look at the Pierce Homestead, his early school years and the area of New Hampshire where he grew up. The area is indeed beautiful. I have seen several areas up here that would tempt me to live here. As always remember God Loves you and so do I. I am so thankful to be able to travel and see the wonders and beauty of Gods creation even as it is under the curse of fallen man.

Grandpa Bill.