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Franklin Pierce
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Franklin Pierce (1804–1869) was the 14th President of the United States from 1853 to 1857, who was, by all accounts, a doughface.
Pierce was part of a short line of two incompetent leaders that would act in favor of the South in the years leading up to the American Civil War.
Before all of that, he was involved as a Representative, and later a Senator for New Hampshire.
He was also a good friend of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, most famous for his 1850 work The Scarlet Letter, with Hawthorne publishing The Life of Franklin Pierce in 1852 specifically in hopes of helping Pierce in that election.[1]
An ugly life…[edit]
Pierce had a miserable life to say the least. This was in spite of the privileges he had growing up in New Hampshire, as well as his being a son of then-governor Benjamin Pierce. He suffered from serious alcohol abuse and would constantly drink.
He died alone as well.
"Achievements"[edit]
Perhaps his biggest accomplishment as President was approving the Kansas-Nebraska Act.[2] What this did was allow the expanding territories to be open to slavery, which was in spite of the Missouri Compromise, that placed all potential slave states below, well, Missouri.
A divisive unifier[edit]
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was "written in an effort to arrest the escalating sectional controversy over the extension of slavery,"[3] and it makes sense why Pierce would be in support of that given that fear of division was the main driver behind his politics on slavery (appeasement). Pierce "saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation," and would denounce it on that basis.[4] "One thing must be perfectly apparent to every intelligent man. This abolition movement must be crushed or there is an end to the Union," he once said.[5]:31
The issue at hand was, to be blunt, not what occurred. Bleeding Kansas, a "period of repeated outbreaks of violent guerrilla warfare between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces" in which "some 55 people were killed between 1855 and 1859," can be directly traced back to the Kansas-Nebraska Act and its attempts to find a compromise. Even if one ignores that fact, events such as the division in the Democratic Party over this, with even many Northern pro-slavery Democrats believing this crossed the line, and the creation of the Republican Party specifically in response to this situation show this did not create the political unification that Pierce had hoped for.[6]
Outright Failures[edit]
During his time in the White House, one cause Pierce was dedicated to, even earning the title of his "pet cause,"[7] was the annexation of the nation of Cuba from Spain.
To be fair to Pierce, it was his choice of diplomat, Pierre Soulé, that actually caused the deal to fail through. An impatient man, Soulé constantly attempted to "bully Spain" due to his "little patience for the slow ways of the Spanish court." However, this quickly backfired, as Spain became less willing to sell the more Soulé attempted to pressure him. Soulé even attempted to rewrite "the treaty to include threats of American military action if Spain did not comply, which only stiffened Spanish resolve." Basically, Pierce's plan fell through because the person he asked to make sure it occurred was unreasonable, and the Spanish had no desire to reason with him.[7]
Legacy[edit]
Pierce is an often ignored and forgotten president. However, scholars and historians have a general consensus of considering him among the absolute worst of the worst in terms of presidents. What is known is that his incompetence led to further escalation into what would result in the Civil War.
See also[edit]
- Millard Fillmore — his predecessor.
- James Buchanan — his godawful successor who was another doughface and an evil traitor who would prove to be the worst of the worst and also a lot worse than him.
References[edit]
- ↑ Nathaniel Hawthorne, Party Hack Slate
- ↑ Franklin Pierce’s murky legacy as President October 8, 202,1, National Constitution Center
- ↑ Kansas-Nebraska Act Britiannica
- ↑ What is President Franklin Pierce best known for? Grateful American Foundation
- ↑ Franklin Pierce by David C. King
- ↑ Bleeding Kansas History
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 FRANKLIN PIERCE: FOREIGN AFFAIRS Miller Center