Franklin Pierce, 14th U.S. President

Franklin Pierce was the Fourteenth President of the United States and served in office for one term, from 1853 to 1857. In many ways, he has not been considered a particularly notable President, and there are few biographies available for him. One of the earliest and most important was The Life of Franklin Pierce from 1852, important not simply because it is the life of Pierce but because it was written by the noted American author Nathaniel Hawthorne. In some ways, this biography can be considered a campaign tract extolling the virtues of Hawthorne's choice for the next President of the United States, for the book ends with the nomination of Pierce to be his party's candidate. Indeed, in the lat paragraph, Hawthorne suggests that the country would do well to elect the Democrat Pierce over the Whig General Scott, Pierce's former commanding officer.

Hawthorne's biography indeed has a military sub-theme, beginning with Pierce's father, General Benjamin Pierce, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Hawthorne finds many characteristics in the elder Pierce that would be passed on to the son, and he also finds the direct link Pierce has to the Revolutionary War to be significant:

The history, character, and circumstances of General Benjamin Pierce . . . are essential parts of the biography of his son, both as indicating some of the native traits which the latter has inherited, and as showing the influences amid which he grew up. At Franklin Pierce's birth, and for many years

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available. It provokes an innate selfconfidence, while, at the same time, it sternly indicates the sedulous cultivation, the earnest effort, the toil, the agony, which are the conditions of ultimate success. Hawthorne throughout writes in a way that makes it difficult to judge whether he is being strictly accurate or is shading events to promote the best qualities of his candidate. Hawthorne knew Pierce and says he first met him after Pierce had entered politics in support of the presidential candidacy of Andrew Jackson. Hawthorne says that his own political beliefs were in accord with those of Pierce, but he also finds he is drawn to the man as Pierce is elected to Congress and represents his constituency first in the state legislature and then in Congress. Hawthorne draws attention to certain errors on the part of this candidate to show he is both human and willing to admit an error, citing in particular the vote Pierce led against the creation of West Point and the fact that years later as a soldier he admitted he was wrong. Hawthorne analyzes Pierce's subsequent career and notes that it was an illustrious one, with many legal successes and the growing ability to make speeches that moved juries as they would later move

Category: History - F