Franklin Pierce Timeline

At the deadlocked 1852 Democratic National Convention in Baltimore, Pierce emerged as a compromise candidate on the 49th ballot. His obscurity made him palatable to all factions of the divided party, and he defeated Whig Winfield Scott decisively in November.

Image source: 1852 Democratic National Convention

Two months before inauguration, the Pierces' surviving son, 11-year-old Benjamin, was killed when their train derailed near Andover, Massachusetts. Jane viewed it as God's punishment and entered deep mourning, while Pierce began his presidency devastated.

Pierce became the 14th President of the United States at age 48. He is the only president to have delivered his inaugural address entirely from memory. His speech pledged expansion, prosperity, and harmony between North and South.

Image source: Inauguration of Franklin Pierce

Pierce sent James Gadsden to negotiate the purchase of land from Mexico, acquiring roughly 29,600 square miles of present-day southern Arizona and New Mexico for $10 million. It facilitated a potential southern transcontinental railroad route.

Image source: Gadsden Purchase

Under Pierce's administration, Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa, opening Japanese ports to American trade after over two centuries of isolation. It marked a landmark achievement in American diplomacy in Asia.

Image source: Convention of Kanagawa

Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, championed by Senator Stephen Douglas, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and allowed settlers to decide slavery through popular sovereignty. The act shattered the Whig Party, fueled violence in Kansas, and propelled the rise of the Republican Party.

Image source: Kansas–Nebraska Act

American diplomats in Europe drafted the Ostend Manifesto, recommending that the U.S. purchase or take Cuba from Spain by force if necessary. When leaked, it provoked outrage in the North and further damaged the administration's reputation.

Image source: Ostend Manifesto

Pro-slavery and antislavery settlers clashed violently in the Kansas Territory, most notably in the Sack of Lawrence and John Brown's Pottawatomie massacre. Pierce's recognition of the proslavery Lecompton government intensified sectional conflict.

Image source: Bleeding Kansas

Representative Preston Brooks brutally beat Senator Charles Sumner with a cane on the Senate floor after Sumner denounced proslavery forces in Kansas. The attack shocked the nation and symbolized the breakdown of civil discourse over slavery.

Image source: Caning of Charles Sumner

The Democratic Party rejected Pierce's bid for a second term, making him the first elected president denied renomination by his own party. James Buchanan received the nomination instead, reflecting widespread Northern repudiation of Pierce's pro-Southern policies.

Image source: 1856 Democratic National Convention

Pierce departed Washington widely criticized and unpopular, having alienated Northerners with concessions to Southern interests while failing to win Southern trust. He retired to Concord, New Hampshire, with his wife Jane.

Following his presidency, Pierce traveled extensively through Europe with his wife Jane, visiting England, Italy, and other countries. They returned to Concord in 1859 as Jane's health continued to decline.

Pierce maintained a lifelong friendship with novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, his Bowdoin classmate. Hawthorne dedicated his final novel 'Our Old Home' to Pierce, and the two traveled together until Hawthorne's death in 1864, which deeply affected Pierce.

Image source: Nathaniel Hawthorne

During the Civil War, Pierce openly opposed President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and other war measures, aligning himself with Peace Democrats. His criticism of the Union cause further damaged his already tarnished reputation.

Image source: Emancipation Proclamation

Jane Pierce died of tuberculosis in Andover, Massachusetts, at age 57. She had blamed her husband for their son's death and never fully recovered from the loss. Her death left Pierce increasingly isolated and prone to heavy drinking.

Franklin Pierce died in Concord, New Hampshire, from cirrhosis of the liver at age 64. He was buried next to his wife and two of his sons in Minot enclosure in Concord's Old North Cemetery.

Scholars have consistently ranked Pierce among the worst presidents in American history, citing his failure to stem the drift toward civil war, support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and deference to pro-slavery interests.

Image source: Historical rankings of presidents of the United States