PIERCE, FRANKLIN
\pˈi͡əs], \pˈiəs], \p_ˈiə_s]\
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(November 23, 1804-October 8, 1869), fourteenth President of the United States, was born at Hillsborough, N. H., graduated at Bowdoin (where he was associated with Hawthorne and Longfellow), and became a lawyer in his native State. While very young he was Speaker in the Legislature, and Democratic Congressman from 1833 to 1837. He was U. S. Senator 1839-1842, declined a Cabinet offer from President Polk, and volunteered in the Mexican War. Appointed to a brigade he showed bravery in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco. This " war record " made him President. He was President of the State Constitutional Convention in 1850, and attained high rank at the bar. At the Democratic National Convention of 1852 Pierce was nominated on the forty-ninth ballot, triumphing over the more prominent competitors, Marcy, Cass, Buchanan and Douglas. In the election the Whig party collapsed and Pierce received 254 electoral votes. The noted names in his Cabinet were Marcy in the State Department, Jefferson Davis Secretary of War, and Caleb Gushing Attorney-General. His administration was marked at home by the Kansas-Nebraska question and the development of the slavery controversy, and abroad by the Koszta incident, the Japan treaty and the Nicaraguan affairs. President Pierce was defeated for renomination in 1856, and after 1857 lived in retirement.
By John Franklin Jameson
Word of the day
Snake's-head
- Guinea-hen flower; -- so called in England because its spotted petals resemble the scales of a snake's head.
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