Remembering Handsome Frank
On October 8, 1869 (143 years ago today) Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, died at his home in Concord, New Hampshire, at the age of 64. The cause is believed to be cirrhosis of the liver, the result of Pierce's alcoholism.
Towards the end of his Presidency, Pierce had caused considerable consternation over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and his backing of the pro-slavery side in the dispute over who would form the government. Rather that unifying the country, Pierce gave life to the abolition movement and the Republican Party, which in turn made the south feel more persecuted. After losing the Democratic nomination for reelection in 1856, Pierce retired and traveled with his wife overseas.
Pierce returned home in 1859 in time for the growing sectional crisis between the South and the North. He was a critic of northern abolitionists, who he blamed for encouraging ugly feelings between the two sections. In 1860 many Democrats believed that Pierce would be a solid compromise choice for the presidential nomination, uniting both Northern and Southern wings of the party, but Pierce declined to run.
During the Civil War, Pierce criticized President Abraham Lincoln for his order suspending habeas corpus. Pierce argued that even in a time of war, the country should not abandon its protection of civil liberties. His stand won him admirers with the emerging Northern Peace Democrats, but enraged members of the Lincoln administration. Secretary of State William Seward accused Pierce of being a member of the seditious Knights of the Golden Circle. Outraged, Pierce responded and demanded that Seward put his response in the official files of the State Department. Seward didn't do that, so a Pierce supporter in the US Senate, Milton Latham of California, had the entire Seward-Pierce correspondence read into the Congressional Globe, which had the effect of repairing Pierce's reputation and making Seward look like someone who had falsely maligned the reputation of a former President.
On December 2, 1863, Pierce's wife Jane died of tuberculosis. It is believed that their marriage was not a happy one ever since their eleven year old son Bennie was killed in a train accident before Franklin Pierce was sworn in as President. Jane Pierce believed that God was punishing them for her husband's vane political ambitions. After the deaths of her children, Mrs. Pierce was overcome with melancholia and distanced herself during her husband's presidency. She never recovered from the tragedy. For nearly two years, she remained in the upstairs living quarters of the White House, spending her days writing maudlin letters to her dead son.
In 1864, friends again put the name of Franklin Pierce in play for the Democratic nomination, but once again Pierce refused to run.
Pierce's reputation was greatly damaged in the North during the aftermath of the Siege of Vicksburg when Union soldiers captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis' Fleetwood Plantation, correspondence was found between the two men, who had been close friends for a long time. (Davis served in Pierce's cabinet and the two men's wives were very close friends.) Pierce had written to Davis about "the madness of northern abolitionism" and he had also said that he would "never justify, sustain, or in any way or to any extent uphold this cruel, heartless, aimless unnecessary war," adding that "the true purpose of the war was to wipe out the states and destroy property."
On April 16, 1865, when news had spread of the murder of President Lincoln, an angry mob of young teenagers gathered outside Pierce's home in Concord. Earlier that day a different mob had thrown black paint on the front porch of former President Millard Fillmore, who, like Pierce, was also regarded as a Lincoln detractor. The crowd in Concord wanted to know why Pierce's house was not dressed with black bunting and American flags, a respectful display of grief being used that day by millions of people across the country. Pierce came outside to confront the crowd and said he, too, was saddened by Lincoln's passing. When a voice in the crowd yelled out "Where is your flag?" Pierce became angry and recalled his family's long devotion to the country, including both his and his father's service in the military. He said he needed to display no flag to prove that he was a loyal American. The crowd soon quieted down and even cheered and applauded the former president as he went back into his home.
Franklin Pierce died in Concord, New Hampshire, at 4:49 am on October 8, 1869, at 64 years or age from cirrhosis of the liver. President Ulysses S. Grant, who later defended Pierce's service in the Mexican War in his autobiography, declared a day of national mourning. Franklin Pierce was interred next to his wife and two of his sons, all of whom had predeceased him, in the Minot Enclosure in the Old North Cemetery of Concord.
Towards the end of his Presidency, Pierce had caused considerable consternation over the Kansas-Nebraska Act and his backing of the pro-slavery side in the dispute over who would form the government. Rather that unifying the country, Pierce gave life to the abolition movement and the Republican Party, which in turn made the south feel more persecuted. After losing the Democratic nomination for reelection in 1856, Pierce retired and traveled with his wife overseas.
Pierce returned home in 1859 in time for the growing sectional crisis between the South and the North. He was a critic of northern abolitionists, who he blamed for encouraging ugly feelings between the two sections. In 1860 many Democrats believed that Pierce would be a solid compromise choice for the presidential nomination, uniting both Northern and Southern wings of the party, but Pierce declined to run.
During the Civil War, Pierce criticized President Abraham Lincoln for his order suspending habeas corpus. Pierce argued that even in a time of war, the country should not abandon its protection of civil liberties. His stand won him admirers with the emerging Northern Peace Democrats, but enraged members of the Lincoln administration. Secretary of State William Seward accused Pierce of being a member of the seditious Knights of the Golden Circle. Outraged, Pierce responded and demanded that Seward put his response in the official files of the State Department. Seward didn't do that, so a Pierce supporter in the US Senate, Milton Latham of California, had the entire Seward-Pierce correspondence read into the Congressional Globe, which had the effect of repairing Pierce's reputation and making Seward look like someone who had falsely maligned the reputation of a former President.
On December 2, 1863, Pierce's wife Jane died of tuberculosis. It is believed that their marriage was not a happy one ever since their eleven year old son Bennie was killed in a train accident before Franklin Pierce was sworn in as President. Jane Pierce believed that God was punishing them for her husband's vane political ambitions. After the deaths of her children, Mrs. Pierce was overcome with melancholia and distanced herself during her husband's presidency. She never recovered from the tragedy. For nearly two years, she remained in the upstairs living quarters of the White House, spending her days writing maudlin letters to her dead son.
In 1864, friends again put the name of Franklin Pierce in play for the Democratic nomination, but once again Pierce refused to run.
Pierce's reputation was greatly damaged in the North during the aftermath of the Siege of Vicksburg when Union soldiers captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis' Fleetwood Plantation, correspondence was found between the two men, who had been close friends for a long time. (Davis served in Pierce's cabinet and the two men's wives were very close friends.) Pierce had written to Davis about "the madness of northern abolitionism" and he had also said that he would "never justify, sustain, or in any way or to any extent uphold this cruel, heartless, aimless unnecessary war," adding that "the true purpose of the war was to wipe out the states and destroy property."
On April 16, 1865, when news had spread of the murder of President Lincoln, an angry mob of young teenagers gathered outside Pierce's home in Concord. Earlier that day a different mob had thrown black paint on the front porch of former President Millard Fillmore, who, like Pierce, was also regarded as a Lincoln detractor. The crowd in Concord wanted to know why Pierce's house was not dressed with black bunting and American flags, a respectful display of grief being used that day by millions of people across the country. Pierce came outside to confront the crowd and said he, too, was saddened by Lincoln's passing. When a voice in the crowd yelled out "Where is your flag?" Pierce became angry and recalled his family's long devotion to the country, including both his and his father's service in the military. He said he needed to display no flag to prove that he was a loyal American. The crowd soon quieted down and even cheered and applauded the former president as he went back into his home.
Franklin Pierce died in Concord, New Hampshire, at 4:49 am on October 8, 1869, at 64 years or age from cirrhosis of the liver. President Ulysses S. Grant, who later defended Pierce's service in the Mexican War in his autobiography, declared a day of national mourning. Franklin Pierce was interred next to his wife and two of his sons, all of whom had predeceased him, in the Minot Enclosure in the Old North Cemetery of Concord.