Franklin Pierce

I would not say that he started a tradition, but he had an outdoor tree decorated for Christmas on the White House lawn. It was about 20 years before anymore White House Christmas trees appeared.

Oh, dude, that's a blast from the past! So, Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, voted against the funding for the National Road, which is now known as U.S. Route 40. It's like that road went from being rejected to being a major highway. Life's full of surprises, man.

No states were added to the union while Pierce was president.

There are plenty of things to know, but here are some of note:

- Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States

- His decisions in his position earned him the reputation of the "Worst President of the United States"

- Franklin wasn't even renominated for President in the 1856 elections, due to the fact that his party abandoned him completely.

- He lived to be 64 years old

- President Ulysses S. Grant declared a national day of mourning over Franklin's death

- All three of his children died quite early in their childhood

- Franklin was heavily religious, as was his wife.

- Franklin's wife was often referred to as 'his opposite', in that her personality was quite different to his.

He was given seven miniature Japanese dogs and two birds by Commodore Perry that he brought back from Japan. He gave one away to the wife of his friend , Secretary of War Jefferson Davis. Pierce reportedly kept dogs on his estate as a rule.

(12) Taylor

(13) Fillmore

(14) Pierce

(15) Buchanan

Pierce served one complete four-year term.

The US was not at war while Pierce was President. There was considerable turmoil and violence in Kansas over the election to decide whether to allow slavery in the state.

Franklin Pierce did not personally like slavery but was not an abolitionist. He believed that the framers of the Constitution were right when they agreed to tolerate slavery in order to form the United States and did he not side with those who were willing to split up the nation in order to end slavery in it. He might be called a doughface, which was slang for Northerners who didn't sympathize with the quest for freedom by the enslaved descendants of Africans in the Southern States. Also, he was not actively opposed to allowing the spread of slavery into the American West. He signed the Kansas-Nebraska bill which allowed the residents of a territory to allow or exclude slavery as they wished,. Pierce did not think that Congress or the President had the constitutional right end slavery. Slavery was a local issue, to be decided by the individual states and territories. In this view, our President was supported by other prominent leaders such as Lewis Cass and Stephen Douglas.

During the War between the States, former President Pierce openly opposed the use of military force to make the Southern States rejoin the union. In fact, from his home in New Hampshire, he carried on wartime correspondence with his old friend and cabinet member Jefferson Davis who was now President of the Confederacy.

No, he died October 8, 1869, at age 65 yrs. (He was born in 1804 and so would be over 200 years old were he still alive.)

He died on October 8, 1869, six weeks before his 65th birthday.

Franklin Pierce married to Jane Appleton in November 19, 1834

His first son, Franklin Pierce Jr , died as a 3-day old baby. Franklin's second son, Frank Pierce, died of typhus at age 4.

The third son, Benjamin, died at age 11, in a tragic train accident not long before his father became President, January 6.1853. The family on a train pulling out from the station at Andover, NH, when the car they were in developed a bad wheel making it drag and become uncoupled from the traiin. It rolled down an embankment and crashed . Benjy was sitting on a bench behind his parents and was hit by flying debris which cut off the back of his head, killing him instantly. Nobody else was seriously hurt.

no- Pierce lived in New Hampshire all of his life except when he was in the army or serving in Washington. He did, however believe that the constitution protected the right to own slaves.

The college was very small- 14 were in his graduation class. There was not much choice of subjects. Students of his day studied Greek, Latin, geometry, ancient history, philosophical logic, ethics and rhetoric.

You can find easily find pictures of Franklin Pierce and his wife Jane Pierce on the internet and elsewhere. See the related link for a picture of young Benjamin Pierce with his mother. He died at age 14 in 1853.

His last son Benjamin was killed on January 6, 1853 while the family was on the train from Boston back to their Concord home. The train car the family was in became detached from the train and rolled down an embankment. Little Benjamin was the only one hurt in the wreckage.

He is best known for being the 14th president of the United States.

Pierce taught school for a few weeks without pay during a school vacation while a senior in college. His first regular job was as a lawyer.

He ended the war as a brigadier general , after having enlisted as a private and being promoted to colonel,

Pierce had periods when he drank enough to injure his health. He was never unable to do his work due to intoxication. I do not think there was even an

instances when he appeared drunk in public and his drinking did not seriously threaten his marriage if at all.