Franklin Pierce - President of the USA in 1853–57.The 14th head of state was unable to effectively deal with disagreements over slavery in the decade preceding the US Civil War of 1861–65.
Early life and career
Born 11/23/1804 in Hillsboro, New Hampshire, United States.His parents were Anna Kendrick and New Hampshire Governor Benjamin. Franklin Pierce studied at Bowden College in Maine, studied law in Northampton, Massachusetts, and received a law degree in 1827. In 1834, he married Jane Appleton, whose father was president of Boudin and a prominent whig. The couple had three sons who died in childhood.
Pierce Franklin entered political lifeNew Hampshire as a Democrat and worked in the State Legislature (1829-33), the US House of Representatives (1833-37) and the Senate (1837-42). Beautiful, courteous, charming, with a brilliant exterior, Pierce made many friends in Congress, but his career was otherwise unremarkable. He was a loyal supporter of President Andrew Jackson, but he was constantly set off by older and more prominent political figures. After retiring from the Senate for personal reasons, he returned to Concord, where he resumed his legal practice and also served as the federal district attorney.
Presidential nomination
With the exception of short-term service officer inDuring the Mexican-American War (1846-48), Pierce remained out of public attention until the National Convention of the Democratic Party in 1852. After a stalemate among supporters of leading presidential contenders Lewis Caesas, Stephen Douglas and James Buchanan, the New England and South delegates proposed the candidacy of Young Hickory (Andrew Jackson was known as Old Hickory) and Pierce Franklin was nominated for the 49th National Congress election Democratic Party of 1852. The ensuing presidential campaign was dominated by disputes over slavery and the 1850 compromise. Although the Democrats and the Whigs declared themselves supporters of it, the former were more organized.
Franklin Pierce - President
As a result, almost unknown at the nationallevel, the candidate unexpectedly won the November elections, beating the Whig party Winfield Scott in the electoral college by 254 votes to 42. Franklin Pierce’s triumph was overshadowed by the tragedy that occurred several weeks before his inauguration, when he and his wife witnessed the death on the railway their only surviving child, 11-year-old Benny. Jane, who has always opposed her husband's candidacy, never fully recovered from the shock.
At the time of election, Pierce was 47 years old.He became the youngest president in US history. Representing the eastern faction of the Democratic Party, which, for the sake of harmony and prosperity of business, did not support the anti-slave trade and tried to reassure the southerners, Pirs Franklin sought to achieve unity by introducing in his cabinet supporters of the extreme positions of both sides.
Foreign policy
The president also tried to shy away from the hardcontradictions, ambitiously and aggressively promoting the expansion of the territorial and commercial interests of the United States abroad. In an effort to acquire the island of Cuba, he ordered the US ambassador to Spain to try to ensure the influence of European financiers on the government of this country. As a result, in October 1854 a diplomatic statement appeared, known as the Ostend Manifesto. It was perceived by the American public as a call to force Cuba out of Spain’s power, if necessary. The disagreements that followed caused the administration to deny responsibility for the document and to recall the ambassador.
In 1855, American adventurer William Walkermade an expedition to Central America with the hope of establishing a US-controlled government supporting slavery there. In Nicaragua, he declared himself a military dictator and then president, and his precarious regime was recognized by the Pierce administration.
More steady diplomatic success expectedan expedition under the command of Matthew Perry, sent in 1853 by President Millard Fillmore to Japan. In 1854, Pierce Franklin received a report from Perry that his expedition was successful and that the US ships had limited access to Japanese ports.
The presidential administration also reorganized the diplomatic and consular service and created a claim court.
Domestic policy
Pierce was preparing for constructiontranscontinental railroad and the opening of the northwestern United States for settlement. In 1853, in order to organize the southern route to California, the United States envoy to Mexico, James Gadsden, agreed to purchase almost 30 thousand square meters. miles of territory for 10 million dollars. In 1854, Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act to encourage migration to the northwest and promote the construction of a central route to the Pacific Ocean. This measure, due to which two new regions were opened for the settlement, included the abolition of the Missouri compromise of 1820, which determined the prohibition of slavery above 36 ° 30 "north latitude, and the condition that the free or slave status of the territory should be determined by the local population. This law caused outrage and an armed conflict began in Kansas, which became the main reason for the growth of the Republican Party in the mid-1850s.
Resignation and death
Due to the inability of the president to settlethe situation was rejected by the Democrats for Pierce to be re-nominated, and he remains the only head of the United States, whom his own party has refused. After a long tour of Europe, he settled in Concord. Always abusing alcohol, he set off into even more drunkenness and died in obscurity on October 8, 1869.
The Presidents of the United States, James Buchanan,Andrew Johnson and Franklin Pierce, who worked before and after the Civil War, are considered among the worst in the history of the country. According to reviews of contemporaries, these were retrogrades who did not want to hear criticism or consider alternative proposals that acted contrary to public opinion, appealing to the ideology of slavery and racism.
