Presidential Resources Online

Franklin Pierce 1853 -1857

Picture of Franklin Pierce
    Franklin Pierce was born in 1804 in Hillsborough, New Hampshire.  He studied law as a young man, and briefly practiced before he entered into politics at age 24 as a member of the New Hampshire legislature.  He became speaker of the New Hampshire state house at at age 26.  During the 1830's he served in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the Senate.  He was not a distinguished member of Congress.  However, he was chosen as the Democratic nominee for President in 1852 largely because internal strife within the party over the slavery issue prevented the nomination of a more prominent candidate.  Fillmore strove unsuccessfully to resolve the issue of slave expansion, which became heated as the Congress debated the admission of Kansas to the Union.  Pierce did not win the Democratic nomination in 1856, and when his term expired he returned to New Hampshire, where he died in 1869.
 
 

Online Franklin Pierce Resources:

The Pierce Manse: Official site of Pierce's home in Concord N.H.

Franklin Pierce Pages: A website dedicated to preserving the memory of Franklin Pierce which contains an assortment of essays on Pierce and Pierce facts.

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