Man, I Don’t Know My Presidents #14

Franklin Pierce

(1853-1857)

• Handsome Frank- He found this embarrassing
• The Hero of A Well-Fought Bottle – Refers to his lack of military command and his known drinking habits.
• The Fainting General- Reference by his opponents to an incident when an artillery blast blew his saddle horn into his abdomen, causing him to loose consciousness for a few moments.
• Young Hickory Of Granite Hills- Comparing his military deeds with Andrew Jackson, and Granite Hills refered to his New Hampshire background

Alright Folks, we’re at a tough time in our nation’s history. We’re leading up to #16 and the Civil War. What’re you gonna do, Handsome Frank?

 

Pierce was a Democrat and a “doughface” (a northerner who supported the South). He was another dark horse candidate (like Fillmore). A great example of winning by a landslide (he won 50% vs 44% of the popular vote but got 254 vs 43 of the electoral college vote – Do you understand how out of whack that shiz can be? And I’m pretty sure this was before the all elusive “super-delegates” (This does not include North Carolina’s Brad Miller who is super in so many other ways, political opinions aside).

Anywhoo…Back to Pierce. – Elected in a relative time of tranquility, the Compromise of 1850 had calmed a lot of people. But in his personal life, Pierce was unsettled; two months before his election, Pierce and his family were trapped in a train when it rolled over. He and his wife watched their 11 year old son was crushed by a traincar. They had already lost 2 sons to typhus and his wife believed that Bennie’s death was ‘divine punishment’ for her husband’s acceptance of this most high office.

The most controversial thing that Pierce did in office was the Kansas-Nebraska Act which repealed the Missouri Compromise and re-opened the question of slavery in the West.

 

• Pierce is the only President to say “I promise” rather than, “I swear” during his Inauguration
• Democratic slogan of 1847 was “We polked you in ‘44, We’ll Pierce you in ‘52.”
• Pierce defeated his commanding officer from the Mexican War, Winfield Scott when he was elected president.
• In his second year in college, Pierce had the lowest grades of anyone in school but he changes his ways and graduated third in his class.
• Among his classmates at Bowdoin were Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• First Presient born in the 19th century.
• Pierce was arrested while in office for running over an old woman with his horse, but the charges were later dropped due to insufficient evidence.
• Pierce dies of cirrhosis of the liver from years of drinking. (Is he the only president to die of that?)

So, to sum up – We had a hot guy who liked to party in office in the 1850s? And don’t forget our favorite MASH surgeon was named for him, so he can’t be all bad.