WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.080 Have you ever come across a historical figure 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:05.620 who just seems like a total contradiction, like 00:00:05.620 --> 00:00:08.859 a walking paradox? Oh, absolutely. It happens 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:11.140 more often than you'd think, especially in politics. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:15.320 Right. So picture this. A man everyone says is 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:17.960 charming, really popular, a successful lawyer, 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:21.179 even becomes a brigadier general, a war hero. 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:22.899 It sounds impressive, got all the credentials, 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:26.579 seemingly. Exactly. But then you look at the 00:00:26.579 --> 00:00:29.280 history books, the rankings, and he's almost 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:32.859 Always listed as one of the worst or at least 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:35.280 least memorable presidents the US has ever had 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.460 Wow. Yeah, that is quite a disconnect How does 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:40.640 someone with that kind of personal appeal end 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:43.140 up with such a well such a negative historical 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:45.500 judgment? That's the million -dollar question, 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:47.759 isn't it? And it really highlights how the pressures 00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:49.619 of the presidency especially during a really 00:00:49.619 --> 00:00:52.659 volatile time can just break someone or expose 00:00:52.659 --> 00:00:55.460 flaws that weren't obvious before. It does. Personal 00:00:55.460 --> 00:00:57.479 charm doesn't always equal effective leadership, 00:00:57.640 --> 00:00:59.880 especially when a nation is tearing itself apart. 00:01:00.299 --> 00:01:02.820 Precisely. And that's exactly what we want to 00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:05.219 explore today. We're doing a deep dive into the 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:08.980 life and incredibly turbulent presidency of Franklin 00:01:08.980 --> 00:01:12.079 Pierce. He was the 14th president, serving from 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:16.260 1853 to 1857. Right. And that incredibly tense 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:18.819 lead up to the Civil War. Exactly. So our goal 00:01:18.819 --> 00:01:21.099 here is to unpack the complexities of Pierce's 00:01:21.099 --> 00:01:22.980 story. We'll look at his personal struggles, 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:25.819 which were frankly immense. We'll examine his 00:01:25.819 --> 00:01:29.260 political ideas and crucially, the huge national 00:01:29.260 --> 00:01:31.700 events he was trying to handle or maybe fail 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:34.019 to handle. Events that really pushed the country 00:01:34.019 --> 00:01:37.370 closer and closer to war. No doubt. By the end 00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:38.849 of this, you should have a much more nuanced 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:41.969 picture of this often overlooked president whose 00:01:41.969 --> 00:01:45.170 decisions, for better or worse, had massive consequences 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:47.989 for where the nation was headed. And to do that, 00:01:47.989 --> 00:01:49.909 we've gathered quite a range of sources. We've 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:52.349 got biographical accounts, historical analyses. 00:01:53.150 --> 00:01:55.109 We've even looked into his personal letters to 00:01:55.109 --> 00:01:56.810 try and get a sense of the man himself. Yeah, 00:01:56.810 --> 00:01:58.930 trying to get beyond just the official portrait, 00:01:59.129 --> 00:02:01.269 you know, understand his motivations, the pressures 00:02:01.269 --> 00:02:04.090 he was under. It was an incredibly challenging 00:02:04.090 --> 00:02:07.390 time, so... Where do we start? His early life. 00:02:07.569 --> 00:02:09.469 Let's do that. Let's go back to the beginning. 00:02:10.330 --> 00:02:14.969 Franklin Pierce was born November 23, 1804. And 00:02:14.969 --> 00:02:18.729 get this in a log cabin. Hillsboro, New Hampshire. 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:21.689 Humble beginnings then. Very much so. He was 00:02:21.689 --> 00:02:24.990 the fifth of eight kids. His father, Benjamin 00:02:24.990 --> 00:02:27.449 Pierce, was a pretty significant figure, fought 00:02:27.449 --> 00:02:29.789 in the Revolutionary War, later became governor 00:02:29.789 --> 00:02:32.229 of New Hampshire. His mother was Anna Kendrick. 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:35.080 So politics and military life were in his blood, 00:02:35.219 --> 00:02:37.039 essentially. Absolutely. It wasn't just background 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.060 noise. It was the family business, in a way. 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:42.120 His dad was deep into state politics. His older 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:46.080 brothers fought in the War of 1812. Duty. military 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:47.960 tradition that was baked in from the start. You 00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:49.740 can see how that might shape someone. Definitely. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:51.840 And there's this one story from when he was 12 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.060 that he himself called the turning point in my 00:02:54.060 --> 00:02:57.759 life. Oh, do tell. Yeah. OK. So apparently he 00:02:57.759 --> 00:02:59.620 got really homesick at school. So homesick, he 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:02.340 walked 12 miles back home one Sunday. 12 mile. 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:05.020 Wow. OK. So he gets home expecting maybe some 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:07.199 sympathy. Nope. His dad feeds him dinner, drives 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:09.560 him part way back to school, and then makes him 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:12.080 walk the rest of the way by himself in a thunderstorm. 00:03:12.539 --> 00:03:16.039 Whoa. That's... intense parenting, character 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:18.520 building, I suppose, in the extreme. Right. It 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:20.639 makes you wonder, you know, did that build resilience 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.280 or did it teach him a certain kind of obedience? 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:26.139 Maybe it's a stark image. It really is. It speaks 00:03:26.139 --> 00:03:29.900 volumes about the kind of tough, almost unforgiving 00:03:29.900 --> 00:03:33.000 environment he grew up in. Not a lot of coddling 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.740 there. Seems like it. And that drive, that toughness, 00:03:36.939 --> 00:03:39.599 whether it was innate or instilled, it definitely 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:41.680 seems to have propelled him forward. So after 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:44.180 that turning point, where did he go next? College. 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:47.800 Yep. Bowdoin College in Maine started in 1820. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:51.879 But interestingly, he wasn't exactly a star student 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:55.099 right away. No. You'd think with that background. 00:03:55.300 --> 00:03:57.659 Well, he actually hit rock bottom academically. 00:03:57.900 --> 00:03:59.919 Dead last in his class after two years. Really? 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:03.099 Last? OK, that's surprising. But he turned it 00:04:03.099 --> 00:04:06.580 around, buckled down, focused, and ended up graduating 00:04:06.580 --> 00:04:09.219 fifth in his class in 1824. Quite a comeback. 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:11.379 That shows some grit. Definitely. And Bowdoin 00:04:11.379 --> 00:04:13.139 was important for connections, too. He became 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:14.840 really good friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne. 00:04:15.060 --> 00:04:17.379 Yes, that Nathaniel Hawthorne. The author. Wow. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.819 OK. Yep. Hawthorne later became his biographer, 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:23.180 also became close with Jonathan Silly, another 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:25.800 future politician. And John P. Hale was there, 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:28.819 too. Started as an ally, later became a major 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:31.540 political rival. So key relationships formed 00:04:31.540 --> 00:04:34.339 early on. For sure. And he wasn't just hit in 00:04:34.339 --> 00:04:37.019 the books. He showed that leadership streak again, 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.269 organized and led this unofficial student militia, 00:04:41.449 --> 00:04:44.589 the Bodoing cadets. A militia in college? Yeah, 00:04:44.689 --> 00:04:46.509 apparently they drilled on campus, the college 00:04:46.509 --> 00:04:48.470 president wasn't thrilled, tried to shut them 00:04:48.470 --> 00:04:50.730 down, and it led to a student strike. Pierce 00:04:50.730 --> 00:04:52.730 was even suspected of being one of the ringleaders. 00:04:52.930 --> 00:04:56.730 Huh. So a bit of a rebel, too. Charismatic, maybe 00:04:56.730 --> 00:04:58.670 not the most studious at first, but definitely 00:04:58.670 --> 00:05:01.730 a leader. That seems to be the picture. Classmates 00:05:01.730 --> 00:05:03.790 remembered his social skills more than his grades. 00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:06.910 That charisma, that hint of rebellion, plus the 00:05:06.910 --> 00:05:09.290 interest in military stuff. You can see the seeds 00:05:09.290 --> 00:05:11.509 of his future career there. It sets the stage 00:05:11.509 --> 00:05:14.230 nicely. So after Bowdoin Law School. He studied 00:05:14.230 --> 00:05:16.370 law, yeah. Got admitted to the New Hampshire 00:05:16.370 --> 00:05:19.050 Bar in late 1827. Apparently he lost his very 00:05:19.050 --> 00:05:22.629 first case, which must have stung. Ouch. Not 00:05:22.629 --> 00:05:25.129 a great start. But he recovered quickly, became 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:27.480 known for having a great memory. especially for 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:29.759 names and faces, which is always useful in law 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:33.019 and politics. Plus that charm and a deep voice 00:05:33.019 --> 00:05:35.319 that commanded attention. And he apparently did 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:38.139 a fair bit of pro bono work, representing the 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:40.620 poor. He did, which, you know, certainly didn't 00:05:40.620 --> 00:05:43.620 hurt his popularity. And he jumped into politics 00:05:43.620 --> 00:05:45.720 almost immediately. Shouldn't waste any time. 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:48.620 Nope. Became Hillsborough's town meeting moderator 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:52.600 in 1828, got reelected five times, then into 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:54.920 the New Hampshire House of Representatives. And 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:57.639 get this. By 1831, he's the Speaker of the House 00:05:57.639 --> 00:06:01.620 at age 27. 27. That's incredibly young to be 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:03.399 speaker. He must have made connections fast. 00:06:03.579 --> 00:06:05.540 He clearly had talent for the political game. 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.259 He used that position to push the Democratic 00:06:08.259 --> 00:06:11.079 agenda, opposed expanding banks, defended the 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:13.660 state militia, supported Andrew Jackson nationally. 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:17.240 So a rapid rise fueled by charisma and political 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:19.480 skill. The militia interest keeps popping up, 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:21.600 too. It does. It seems like a consistent thread. 00:06:21.790 --> 00:06:24.449 But even then, his letters apparently show him 00:06:24.449 --> 00:06:26.930 kind of lamenting being single, wishing for a 00:06:26.930 --> 00:06:29.350 life outside of politics. That tension was there 00:06:29.350 --> 00:06:32.649 early on. Hmm. That desire for a different kind 00:06:32.649 --> 00:06:34.550 of life becomes really important when we look 00:06:34.550 --> 00:06:36.449 at his marriage, doesn't it? Absolutely. Tell 00:06:36.449 --> 00:06:39.110 us about Jane Appleton. Right. So he marries 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:43.350 Jane Means Appleton in 1834, and she was, in 00:06:43.350 --> 00:06:46.819 many ways, his complete opposite. described as 00:06:46.819 --> 00:06:49.839 pious, very reserved, deeply religious, strong 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:52.339 temperance supporter. So not exactly the life 00:06:52.339 --> 00:06:54.959 of the political party. Not at all. And she suffered 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.459 from chronic health problems, likely tuberculosis, 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:00.540 maybe psychological issues, too. And she hated 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:04.660 politics. Losed Washington, DC. Oh, boy. That 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:06.709 sounds like a recipe for attention. Constant 00:07:06.709 --> 00:07:09.610 tension, it seems. His ambition versus her desire 00:07:09.610 --> 00:07:12.430 for a quiet, private life. But the real tragedy, 00:07:12.569 --> 00:07:14.569 the thing that just hangs over everything, is 00:07:14.569 --> 00:07:16.329 what happened to their children. Yeah, this is 00:07:16.329 --> 00:07:18.689 incredibly sad. They had three sons. Franklin 00:07:18.689 --> 00:07:21.569 Jr. died just days after birth. Awful. Then their 00:07:21.569 --> 00:07:24.490 second son, Frank Robert, died at age four from 00:07:24.490 --> 00:07:26.949 typhus. Oh my goodness. Two children lost. And 00:07:26.949 --> 00:07:29.490 then Benjamin, their last surviving son. He was 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:31.910 11 years old. Just weeks before Pierce's inauguration, 00:07:32.329 --> 00:07:34.399 the family was on a train. The Andover train 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:36.379 accident. I've read about this. It's horrifying. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.699 It is. The train car derailed, rolled down an 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:43.160 embankment. Benjamin was killed instantly. Crushed. 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:46.000 Apparently it was a horrific scene, and Pierce 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.100 couldn't shield Jane from seeing it. I can't 00:07:48.100 --> 00:07:51.100 even begin to imagine. Losing one child is devastating. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:54.720 But all three. And the last one in such a traumatic 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:57.120 way, right before becoming president. Exactly. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:00.019 And you have to ask... How could that not profoundly 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:02.759 affect him? His judgment, his emotional state, 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.319 his ability to lead? Jane was plunged into deep 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:08.699 depression, reportedly believing it was God's 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:10.720 punishment for Franklin pursuing the presidency. 00:08:11.019 --> 00:08:13.459 That's just soul -crushing. It puts his entire 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:15.560 presidency in a different light, doesn't it? 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:17.920 Starting under such a dark shadow. An almost 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.180 unbearable shadow. And it certainly colored his 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:22.319 time in national politics even before the presidency. 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:24.259 Right. Let's talk about his time in Congress. 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:26.980 He served in the House, then the Senate. through 00:08:26.980 --> 00:08:29.939 the 1830s and early 40s. Still a loyal Jacksonian 00:08:29.939 --> 00:08:33.279 Democrat. Very much so. Oppose the National Bank, 00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:35.820 oppose federal money for things like canals and 00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:38.919 roads, saw it as federal overreach, state's rights 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:41.399 infringement, standard democratic positions back 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:43.759 then. OK, but the big issue, the one that was 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:46.080 starting to dominate everything, was slavery. 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:48.840 Where did he stand then? This is where it gets 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:52.259 really complicated and crucial. Personally, he 00:08:52.259 --> 00:08:54.799 seems to have disliked slavery. He wrote things 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.559 like, I consider slavery a social and political 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:00.379 evil, and most sincerely wished that it had no 00:09:00.379 --> 00:09:03.840 existence. So morally opposed them? Morally opposed, 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:07.159 yes, but politically. He saw the abolitionist 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:09.080 movement as the biggest threat to keeping the 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:12.009 union together. He thought their agitation, as 00:09:12.009 --> 00:09:14.690 he called it, had to be stopped or the country 00:09:14.690 --> 00:09:17.549 would break apart. The classic conflict, personal 00:09:17.549 --> 00:09:20.389 morals versus perceived political necessity or 00:09:20.389 --> 00:09:23.029 union preservation. Exactly. He believed federal 00:09:23.029 --> 00:09:25.210 action against slavery violated states' rights. 00:09:25.490 --> 00:09:27.509 He even supported the gag rule in the House, 00:09:27.870 --> 00:09:30.190 which basically prevented any debate on anti 00:09:30.190 --> 00:09:32.629 -slavery petitions. So receive the petitions, 00:09:32.669 --> 00:09:35.269 but immediately table them, effectively silencing 00:09:35.269 --> 00:09:38.629 the issue in Congress. Right. It's this stance 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:41.820 personally disliking slavery, but politically 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:44.600 defending the South's right to it and prioritizing 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:46.940 the union above all else that really defined 00:09:46.940 --> 00:09:49.559 him. That's why he got labeled a doe face. A 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:51.820 northerner with southern sympathies. That term 00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:54.480 really captures the growing divide. It does. 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:57.080 And that internal conflict, that prioritizing 00:09:57.080 --> 00:10:00.259 of union over abolition, sets the stage for everything 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:02.019 that happened during his presidency. It really 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:04.980 does. OK, so after Congress, he steps back from 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:07.940 DC for a bit, right? But then the military dream 00:10:07.940 --> 00:10:11.070 calls again. Yes. the Mexican -American War. 00:10:11.389 --> 00:10:12.809 This is something he'd apparently wanted for 00:10:12.809 --> 00:10:15.029 a long time, influenced by his father and brothers. 00:10:15.509 --> 00:10:17.629 He gets appointed to colonel, then quickly promoted 00:10:17.629 --> 00:10:20.549 to brigadier general in 1847. Leads a brigade 00:10:20.549 --> 00:10:23.450 down to join General Scott's army. A pretty tough 00:10:23.450 --> 00:10:25.809 march, wasn't it? Yeah, three weeks through difficult 00:10:25.809 --> 00:10:28.690 terrain. And his actual combat experience was, 00:10:28.769 --> 00:10:31.950 well, eventful. Yeah. And not entirely positive, 00:10:31.970 --> 00:10:34.269 at least initially. Right, the Battle of Contreras. 00:10:34.330 --> 00:10:36.570 What happened there? His horse got spooked, threw 00:10:36.570 --> 00:10:38.649 him against the saddle, then tripped and fell. 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:41.240 pinning Pierce's leg underneath caused a really 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:44.379 bad knee injury. Ouch. And that led to accusations. 00:10:44.620 --> 00:10:47.399 Unfortunately, yes. Because he was incapacitated, 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.139 maybe fainted from the pain. Some accused him 00:10:50.139 --> 00:10:52.440 of cowardice. Politics, even on the battlefield, 00:10:52.580 --> 00:10:56.240 huh? Seems like it. But he showed serious grit. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:59.100 He went back into action the next day despite 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:01.419 the injury and actually re -injured the knee. 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:04.320 OK, that takes some guts. Then, at the Battle 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.039 of Churubusco, the pain was apparently so bad 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:09.039 they had to tie him to a saddle to keep him upright. 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:11.519 He eventually passed out from the pain right 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:13.840 there on the battlefield. Also suffered from 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:15.940 severe dysentery during the battle for Mexico 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:20.100 City. Tied to a saddle? Wow. So despite the injuries 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:23.039 and the initial accusation, he stuck it out. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:25.399 He did. Completed his service, participated in 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:27.679 capturing Mexico City, and when he got back to 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.019 New Hampshire, he got a hero's welcome. So the 00:11:30.019 --> 00:11:32.539 military service, even though brief and difficult, 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:35.620 it definitely boosted his public image, gave 00:11:35.620 --> 00:11:38.460 him that war hero credential. Absolutely. Which, 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:41.279 as we know, was often a golden ticket in 19th 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:43.720 century presidential politics. But that cowardice 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:46.580 accusation lingered, didn't it? It did. Our sources 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:49.340 say it would long shadow him, which makes Ulysses 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:51.500 S. Grant's later comments even more interesting. 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:54.159 Grant. What did he say? He served with Pierce 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.500 in Mexico, right? He did. And later in his memoirs, 00:11:57.529 --> 00:12:00.049 Grant, who remember wasn't a political ally of 00:12:00.049 --> 00:12:04.110 Pierce, wrote, whatever General Pierce's qualifications 00:12:04.110 --> 00:12:06.909 may have been for the presidency, he was a gentleman 00:12:06.909 --> 00:12:10.669 and a man of courage. Huh. That's a pretty strong 00:12:10.669 --> 00:12:12.649 defense from someone who saw it firsthand and 00:12:12.649 --> 00:12:14.850 had no political reason to praise him. Exactly. 00:12:14.889 --> 00:12:16.870 It's a valuable counterpoint to the caricature. 00:12:17.169 --> 00:12:19.549 It reminds us that battlefield narratives can 00:12:19.549 --> 00:12:22.710 be messy and personal courage doesn't automatically 00:12:22.710 --> 00:12:26.059 equate to political success or vice versa. A 00:12:26.059 --> 00:12:28.139 really important distinction. OK, so he's got 00:12:28.139 --> 00:12:30.159 the war hero status, the political background. 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:32.820 How does he end up getting the presidential nomination 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:35.639 in 1852? He wasn't exactly a front runner, was 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:37.960 he? Not at all. He was a classic dark horse. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.159 The Democratic Party was tearing itself apart 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:43.519 over slavery. Everyone expected the 1852 convention 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:45.879 to deadlock between the big names like Cass, 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.480 Buchanan, Douglass. A recipe for a compromised 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:52.200 candidate. Precisely. Pierce's allies saw an 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:55.100 opening. especially after another potential compromise 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:58.440 figure, Levi Woodbury, died. They started quietly 00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:01.259 pushing Pierce. And Pierce himself, was he actively 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:04.639 campaigning? Publicly? No way. He followed the 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:07.379 custom of pretending not to want it, saying a 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:10.419 nomination would be utterly repugnant to my tastes 00:13:10.419 --> 00:13:13.519 and wishes. Ah, the standard political dance. 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:16.919 Right. But privately. He let his supporters work 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.669 the convention floor. And crucially, he wrote 00:13:19.669 --> 00:13:21.789 letters confirming his support for the Compromise 00:13:21.789 --> 00:13:25.129 of 1850, including the Fugitive Slave Act. Ah, 00:13:25.450 --> 00:13:27.809 reassuring the South. A calculated move. Very 00:13:27.809 --> 00:13:30.149 calculated. Yeah. And it worked. After ballot, 00:13:30.210 --> 00:13:33.169 after ballot 48 of them. With no winner, the 00:13:33.169 --> 00:13:35.090 exhausted convention finally turned to Pierce 00:13:35.090 --> 00:13:37.830 on the 49th ballot. William R. King from Alabama 00:13:37.830 --> 00:13:40.570 became his running mate. 49 ballots. Wow. So 00:13:40.570 --> 00:13:42.509 he really was chosen because nobody hated him 00:13:42.509 --> 00:13:44.769 too much. A unifier, in theory. That was the 00:13:44.769 --> 00:13:46.879 idea. Someone acceptable to both Northern and 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.320 Southern Democrats. But you have to ask, did 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:51.259 being a compromise chosen out of desperation 00:13:51.259 --> 00:13:53.279 just set him up to fail when things got really 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:55.720 tough? That's a very good question. And the reaction 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:59.379 to his nomination at home was dramatic. Understatement. 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:02.659 His wife, Jane, reportedly fainted when she heard 00:14:02.659 --> 00:14:05.820 the news. Fainted, oh dear. And their son, Benjamin, 00:14:06.200 --> 00:14:08.090 the one who... later died in the train crash, 00:14:08.750 --> 00:14:10.950 wrote to his mom saying he hoped his father wouldn't 00:14:10.950 --> 00:14:12.990 win because he knew how much he hated Washington. 00:14:13.289 --> 00:14:15.769 Good grief. That really speaks volumes about 00:14:15.769 --> 00:14:18.029 the personal cost and maybe his own reluctance 00:14:18.029 --> 00:14:20.309 deep down. It really does. And that reluctance, 00:14:20.610 --> 00:14:23.509 that family unhappiness just tragically foreshadowed 00:14:23.509 --> 00:14:25.669 the absolute horror that came next. The train 00:14:25.669 --> 00:14:28.789 accident. just weeks after the election. January 00:14:28.789 --> 00:14:32.830 6, 1853. Pierce, Jane, and 11 -year -old Benjamin 00:14:32.830 --> 00:14:34.850 are on that train here and over Massachusetts. 00:14:35.370 --> 00:14:38.250 It derails. And Benjamin is killed right in front 00:14:38.250 --> 00:14:41.269 of them. Horrifically. Crushed. Nearly decapitated. 00:14:41.570 --> 00:14:43.909 An image neither parent could ever forget. It 00:14:43.909 --> 00:14:46.549 plunged them both into just overwhelming grief. 00:14:46.690 --> 00:14:49.470 And Jane felt it was punishment. Apparently so. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.799 punishment for his ambition for seeking the presidency. 00:14:53.539 --> 00:14:56.080 She wrote this heartbreaking letter of apology 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:00.039 to Benny for her failings as a mother. She barely 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:02.059 participated in White House social life for the 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:05.059 first two years. How could anyone function under 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.539 that? It's often cited as crippling his presidency 00:15:07.539 --> 00:15:10.000 before it even began. It has to be considered. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:13.279 He was emotionally shattered, heading into arguably 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.600 the toughest job in the world during one of the 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.399 country's most dangerous periods, it's critical 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.240 context. Absolutely critical. So he goes to the 00:15:21.240 --> 00:15:23.980 inauguration alone. Jane didn't accompany him. 00:15:24.340 --> 00:15:26.860 No, she stayed behind, still consumed by grief. 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:29.620 And at the inauguration, Pierce did a couple 00:15:29.620 --> 00:15:32.019 of notable things. First, he affirmed the oath 00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:35.169 of office on a law book, not a Bible. Only the 00:15:35.169 --> 00:15:37.169 second president to do that after John Quincy 00:15:37.169 --> 00:15:39.809 Adams. Interesting choice. Yeah, maybe suggesting 00:15:39.809 --> 00:15:42.070 a more secular view. And second, he delivered 00:15:42.070 --> 00:15:45.250 his entire inaugural address from memory. First 00:15:45.250 --> 00:15:47.590 president ever to do that. Wow. That takes some 00:15:47.590 --> 00:15:49.669 confidence or maybe just a good memory. What 00:15:49.669 --> 00:15:51.870 was the tone of the address? He talked about 00:15:51.870 --> 00:15:54.570 peace and prosperity at home, but also pushed 00:15:54.570 --> 00:15:58.149 hard for American expansion abroad. He embraced 00:15:58.149 --> 00:16:01.549 that young America idea. Acquiring new territories 00:16:01.549 --> 00:16:04.730 was eminently important. So Manifest Destiny 00:16:04.730 --> 00:16:07.470 was alive and well in his administration. Very 00:16:07.470 --> 00:16:10.769 much so. He actually said, the policy of my administration 00:16:10.769 --> 00:16:13.190 will not be deterred by any timid forebodings 00:16:13.190 --> 00:16:16.330 of evil from expansion. Strong words. Did he 00:16:16.330 --> 00:16:18.610 mention slavery? He avoided the word itself, 00:16:19.190 --> 00:16:20.929 but he talked about putting the important subject 00:16:20.929 --> 00:16:23.809 of sexual conflict to rest, emphasizing unity, 00:16:24.289 --> 00:16:27.009 and he made that poignant comment clearly alluding 00:16:27.009 --> 00:16:29.690 to his personal loss. You have summoned me in 00:16:29.690 --> 00:16:32.269 my weakness. You must sustain me by your strength. 00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:34.409 Heartbreaking. And then adding to the rough start, 00:16:34.629 --> 00:16:36.970 his vice president died almost immediately. Yeah, 00:16:37.149 --> 00:16:39.070 William R. King was already ill with tuberculosis, 00:16:39.450 --> 00:16:41.250 went to Cuba, hoping the climate would help, 00:16:41.549 --> 00:16:44.129 was sworn in there, but died just over a month 00:16:44.129 --> 00:16:46.889 into the term. Leaving the VP office vacant for 00:16:46.889 --> 00:16:48.870 almost the entire presidency. Exactly. There 00:16:48.870 --> 00:16:51.509 was no mechanism back then to replace a VP. So 00:16:51.509 --> 00:16:53.629 the Senate president pro tempore was next in 00:16:53.629 --> 00:16:56.409 line. Just another layer of instability. What 00:16:56.409 --> 00:17:00.759 a start. grief, no VP, expansionist talk, and 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:04.039 the slavery issue simmering. Did he manage to 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:06.000 get anything done on the administrative side? 00:17:06.299 --> 00:17:09.259 Surprisingly, yes. Despite the political turmoil 00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:11.519 in his personal state, his administration did 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:15.039 achieve some significant, often overlooked, administrative 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:18.900 reforms. Like what? Well, he tried to unify the 00:17:18.900 --> 00:17:21.099 Democratic Party by appointing people from different 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:24.000 factions to his cabinet. That mostly backfired. 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.180 Everyone accused him of favoring the other side. 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:30.380 Remarkably, that entire original cabinet stayed 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:33.059 with him for all four years. The only time in 00:17:33.059 --> 00:17:35.619 U .S. history that's happened. Wow. Yep. And 00:17:35.619 --> 00:17:37.640 they did some solid work. They started early 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.000 forms of civil service exams trying to base appointments 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.519 on merit, not just who you knew. A precursor 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:45.740 to later reforms. His Interior Secretary, Robert 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.099 McClelland, really cleaned house in that department, 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:50.690 rooting out fraud. Piers gave the attorney general 00:17:50.690 --> 00:17:53.109 more power over pointing federal judges and attorneys 00:17:53.109 --> 00:17:55.049 a step towards the modern Justice Department. 00:17:55.230 --> 00:17:57.750 OK, so some real efforts at efficiency and accountability. 00:17:58.269 --> 00:18:00.710 Definitely. Treasury Secretary James Duthrie 00:18:00.710 --> 00:18:02.809 went after corruption, tried to get federal money 00:18:02.809 --> 00:18:05.789 out of private banks, and Jefferson Davis, his 00:18:05.789 --> 00:18:08.210 secretary of war. Later president of the Confederacy. 00:18:08.269 --> 00:18:11.750 Yeah, right. He oversaw surveys for the transcontinental 00:18:11.750 --> 00:18:14.710 railroad routes, seeing it as vital for national 00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:17.690 security. Also managed construction projects 00:18:17.690 --> 00:18:21.140 in D .C. So there was this side of Pierce committed 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:23.839 to decent governance. It's that paradox again. 00:18:24.140 --> 00:18:26.559 Capable administrator, but overshadowed by the 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:29.519 huge political failures. Exactly. And those political 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:32.019 failures were deeply tied to his foreign policy 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:35.640 too. The young America expansionism, how did 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:38.119 that play out? Well, Secretary of State William 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:40.759 Marcy tried to project this distinctively American 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.359 image diplomats wearing plain clothes instead 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:45.779 of fancy European court dress, that sort of thing. 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:49.000 The symbolic gesture. Any tangible gains? Yes, 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:51.240 the Gadsden Purchase. They bought a chunk of 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:53.440 land from Mexico, southern Arizona, part of New 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:56.440 Mexico. Congress haggled the price down, but 00:18:56.440 --> 00:18:58.680 it finalized the southern border of the contiguous 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:00.720 U .S., more or less. OK, that's significant. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.380 They also signed a trade reciprocity treaty with 00:19:03.380 --> 00:19:06.700 Britain regarding Canada. Pierce hoped it might 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:09.980 lead to annexing Canada eventually. And the trade 00:19:09.980 --> 00:19:12.920 treaty with Japan, opened by Commodore Perry, 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:16.130 was finalized under Pierce. Though... initiated 00:19:16.130 --> 00:19:18.910 earlier. So some diplomatic successes. But there 00:19:18.910 --> 00:19:21.269 was a major controversy, too, right? Cuba? Yeah. 00:19:21.809 --> 00:19:24.869 The Austin Manifesto. This was a huge blunder. 00:19:25.450 --> 00:19:28.009 Three U .S. diplomats in Europe secretly proposed 00:19:28.009 --> 00:19:30.829 buying Cuba from Spain for a hefty sum. OK, buying 00:19:30.829 --> 00:19:33.210 it. But then they added that if Spain refused, 00:19:33.609 --> 00:19:35.869 the U .S. should consider resting it away by 00:19:35.869 --> 00:19:38.349 force. Wow. Just take it. That sounds aggressive. 00:19:38.589 --> 00:19:41.160 Extremely. And when this secret proposal leaked, 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.539 the North went ballistic. They saw it as a blatant 00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:46.839 attempt to grab more slave territory for the 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:49.000 South. So it backfired badly, made the administration 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:51.420 look like it was driven by pro -slavery expansionism. 00:19:51.660 --> 00:19:54.319 Completely. It damaged the whole idea of Manifest 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.440 Destiny in many northern eyes and fueled suspicions 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:00.019 about southern intentions. It shows how domestic 00:20:00.019 --> 00:20:02.559 slavery politics poisoned even foreign policy 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:04.900 goals. And that brings us squarely to the biggest 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:08.220 domestic disaster, the Kansas -Nebraska Act. 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:12.059 Absolutely. the defining and arguably most destructive 00:20:12.059 --> 00:20:14.900 act of his presidency. It all started with Senator 00:20:14.900 --> 00:20:16.940 Stephen Douglas wanting to organize the Western 00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:19.519 Territories, right, for a railroad. Exactly. 00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:22.579 Yeah. Douglas from Illinois wanted a transcontinental 00:20:22.579 --> 00:20:24.940 railroad that would benefit his state. To do 00:20:24.940 --> 00:20:27.339 that, he needed to organize the huge Nebraska 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:30.140 territory. But to get Southern votes for his 00:20:30.140 --> 00:20:32.539 plan, he needed to offer them something. And 00:20:32.539 --> 00:20:35.480 that something was slavery. Precisely. He proposed 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:38.829 popular sovereignty. Let the settlers in the 00:20:38.829 --> 00:20:40.970 new territories decide for themselves whether 00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:43.789 to allow slavery. Which sounds democratic on 00:20:43.789 --> 00:20:46.190 the surface. But it directly attacked the Missouri 00:20:46.190 --> 00:20:49.230 Compromise of 1820. That compromise had banned 00:20:49.230 --> 00:20:52.390 slavery north of a specific line, 36 -degree, 00:20:52.410 --> 00:20:55.329 30 -yard latitude, for over 30 years, keeping 00:20:55.329 --> 00:20:57.990 a fragile peace. So Douglas's plan would just 00:20:57.990 --> 00:21:01.009 erase that line? Effectively, yes. His bill split 00:21:01.009 --> 00:21:03.400 the territory into two. Nebraska in the north, 00:21:03.779 --> 00:21:06.200 expected to be free, and Kansas in the south, 00:21:06.660 --> 00:21:08.980 expected or hoped by the south, to become slave. 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:11.259 Did Pierce support this immediately? It seems 00:21:11.259 --> 00:21:13.859 like throwing gasoline on a fire. He was initially 00:21:13.859 --> 00:21:16.839 hesitant. He knew it would cause a massive uproar 00:21:16.839 --> 00:21:19.900 in the north. But Douglas, along with Jefferson 00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:22.700 Davis, Pierce's own secretary of war, pressured 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:25.119 him hard. They eventually convinced him to back 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:28.089 the bill. A fatal decision in hindsight. Absolutely 00:21:28.089 --> 00:21:30.569 catastrophic. It shattered the uneasy truce over 00:21:30.569 --> 00:21:33.569 slavery, reignited the conflict with incredible 00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:36.789 fury, and directly contradicted Pierce's own 00:21:36.789 --> 00:21:40.150 promise to keep the issue settled. It unleashed 00:21:40.150 --> 00:21:42.869 chaos. And that chaos became known as Bleeding 00:21:42.869 --> 00:21:46.869 Kansas. Yep. As soon as the act passed, pro -slavery 00:21:46.869 --> 00:21:49.430 and anti -slavery settlers flooded into Kansas. 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:52.480 Both sides determined to win the territory. It 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:54.339 got violent fast. And there were problems with 00:21:54.339 --> 00:21:56.240 the voting, right? The border ruffians? Huge 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.500 problems. Thousands of pro -slavery men from 00:21:58.500 --> 00:22:01.059 Missouri crossed the border just to vote illegally 00:22:01.059 --> 00:22:03.779 in Kansas' territorial elections. They completely 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:06.519 skewed the results, electing a pro -slavery legislature. 00:22:06.900 --> 00:22:09.000 So a fraudulent election, basically. How did 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:12.319 Pierce react? This is key. Despite knowing about 00:22:12.319 --> 00:22:15.619 the fraud, Pierce backed the pro -slavery legislature. 00:22:15.849 --> 00:22:18.869 He called the rival anti -slavery government 00:22:18.869 --> 00:22:21.390 set up by the Free Staters with their Topeka 00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:24.450 Constitution an act of rebellion. So he sided 00:22:24.450 --> 00:22:27.109 with the outcome achieved through fraud. He did. 00:22:27.390 --> 00:22:29.730 He recognized the pro -slavery government and 00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:32.369 even sent federal troops to break up meetings 00:22:32.369 --> 00:22:34.910 of the anti -slavery group. He was committed 00:22:34.910 --> 00:22:37.450 to the principle of popular sovereignty, even 00:22:37.450 --> 00:22:40.069 if the process was corrupt. Wow. That must have 00:22:40.069 --> 00:22:42.430 enraged the North, made him look totally biased 00:22:42.430 --> 00:22:45.410 towards the South. It absolutely did. It cemented 00:22:45.410 --> 00:22:47.769 the view of him as a dirt face and made a mockery 00:22:47.769 --> 00:22:49.809 of his claims to be a unifier. It just deepened 00:22:49.809 --> 00:22:51.750 the wounds. And at the same time, all this is 00:22:51.750 --> 00:22:53.609 happening in Kansas, he's also cracking down 00:22:53.609 --> 00:22:57.029 on fugitive slaves back east. Yes, the Anthony 00:22:57.029 --> 00:22:59.369 Burns case in Boston. It happened right around 00:22:59.369 --> 00:23:01.569 the same time as the Kansas -Nebraska debate. 00:23:02.329 --> 00:23:05.230 Burns, an escaped slave, was captured in Boston. 00:23:05.369 --> 00:23:07.809 Boston being a hotbed of abolitionism, that must 00:23:07.809 --> 00:23:10.289 have caused an uproar. Massive protests, fury 00:23:10.289 --> 00:23:12.710 in the streets. But Pierce was adamant about 00:23:12.710 --> 00:23:15.289 enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act. He saw it as 00:23:15.289 --> 00:23:18.109 his constitutional duty. Regardless of the moral 00:23:18.109 --> 00:23:20.109 implications or public opinion in the North? 00:23:20.549 --> 00:23:23.789 Exactly. He sent federal troops, marshals, even 00:23:23.789 --> 00:23:26.619 ships. spending a huge amount of money just to 00:23:26.619 --> 00:23:28.819 ensure Burns was forcibly returned to his owner 00:23:28.819 --> 00:23:31.160 in Virginia. What a powerful symbol. Federal 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:34.180 power used explicitly to uphold slavery against 00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:36.880 the wishes of a northern city. For abolitionists 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:39.460 and many northerners, it was just another slap 00:23:39.460 --> 00:23:42.019 in the face. It proved the federal government 00:23:42.019 --> 00:23:44.859 under Pierce was actively propping up the slave 00:23:44.859 --> 00:23:48.099 system. It further alienated huge segments of 00:23:48.099 --> 00:23:51.599 the population. So leading Kansas, Anthony Burns? 00:23:52.359 --> 00:23:55.200 The political consequences must have been enormous. 00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:57.839 Transformative. The whole party system basically 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:00.099 exploded. The Whig party just disintegrated over 00:24:00.099 --> 00:24:01.880 the slavery issue. Couldn't hold the northern 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:03.960 and southern wings together anymore. And what 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:06.039 rose from the ashes? Two main groups initially. 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:08.940 The American party or Know Nothings. They were 00:24:08.940 --> 00:24:11.500 anti -immigrant, anti -Catholic, tapping into 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:13.799 nativist fears. They had a brief surge. But the 00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:16.380 bigger one was the Republicans, right? Absolutely. 00:24:16.650 --> 00:24:19.170 The Republican Party was founded specifically 00:24:19.170 --> 00:24:21.950 in response to Kansas -Nebraska, dedicated to 00:24:21.950 --> 00:24:24.450 stopping the expansion of slavery. It drew anti 00:24:24.450 --> 00:24:28.940 -slavery wigs, Democrats, free soilers, a powerful 00:24:28.940 --> 00:24:31.740 new coalition based entirely in the North. So 00:24:31.740 --> 00:24:34.200 Pierce's actions directly led to the creation 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:36.819 of the party that would eventually elect Lincoln. 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:38.799 You could definitely argue that. The midterm 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:41.940 elections in 1854 -55 were a disaster for the 00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:44.359 Democrats outside the South. The political map 00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:46.640 was being completely redrawn along sectional 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.299 lines, largely because of the fallout from Pierce's 00:24:49.299 --> 00:24:51.720 policies. It really accelerated the path to war. 00:24:52.019 --> 00:24:54.240 OK, so after all that, did he seriously expect 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:57.420 to be re -nominated in 1856? Amazingly, yes. 00:24:57.720 --> 00:24:59.500 He fully expected the Democratic nomination. 00:24:59.740 --> 00:25:01.700 But the party leaders knew better. They saw how 00:25:01.700 --> 00:25:04.299 unpopular he was in the North, how toxic, bleeding 00:25:04.299 --> 00:25:07.079 Kansas had become. He was an electoral liability. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.140 So the convention in Cincinnati, it wasn't smooth 00:25:10.140 --> 00:25:12.339 sailing for him? Not at all. On the first ballot, 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:14.619 James Buchanan actually had more votes than Pierce. 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:17.240 Pierce's support was mostly from the South. It 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:20.220 deadlocked. How many ballots this time? 14 deadlocked 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:23.930 ballots. Pierce's support was fading. He finally 00:25:23.930 --> 00:25:26.349 saw the writing on the wall and withdrew. Did 00:25:26.349 --> 00:25:28.630 he throw his support to anyone? Yeah, he tried 00:25:28.630 --> 00:25:30.630 to get his delegates to back Stephen Douglas, 00:25:30.869 --> 00:25:33.910 hoping to stop Buchanan. But Douglas, probably 00:25:33.910 --> 00:25:36.789 figuring 1860 would be his year, also withdrew. 00:25:37.009 --> 00:25:39.470 That sealed it for Buchanan. So Pierce became 00:25:39.470 --> 00:25:42.069 the first elected president actively seeking 00:25:42.069 --> 00:25:45.170 renomination to be denied by his own party. That's 00:25:45.170 --> 00:25:48.130 right. A pretty stunning rejection. It just shows 00:25:48.130 --> 00:25:50.569 how badly his presidency had damaged the party 00:25:50.569 --> 00:25:53.089 and the country in their eyes. They needed someone 00:25:53.089 --> 00:25:55.950 who wasn't so directly tied to the Kansas fiasco. 00:25:56.609 --> 00:25:59.250 A brutal end to his time in office. Did he just 00:25:59.250 --> 00:26:02.069 fade away after that? Not entirely. He remained 00:26:02.069 --> 00:26:04.460 outspoken. especially as the country spiraled 00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:07.460 towards war. He kept blaming Northern abolitionists, 00:26:07.720 --> 00:26:10.319 urging them to back off to avoid secession. He 00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:12.460 even called New England ministers preaching abolition 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:15.779 guilty of heresy and treason. Strong words. How 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:18.099 did he react when the war actually started? He 00:26:18.099 --> 00:26:21.259 was highly critical of Lincoln. He strongly opposed 00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:23.740 Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, the right 00:26:23.740 --> 00:26:26.519 to not be detained without charge. He sided with 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:29.259 the peace Democrats, who prioritize civil liberties 00:26:29.259 --> 00:26:32.410 even in wartime. Which probably didn't win him 00:26:32.410 --> 00:26:34.950 many friends in the North during the war. Definitely 00:26:34.950 --> 00:26:38.710 not. It reinforces image as a Southern sympathizer. 00:26:39.730 --> 00:26:41.670 There was even this bizarre incident where a 00:26:41.670 --> 00:26:44.210 hoax letter surfaced, accusing him of being part 00:26:44.210 --> 00:26:47.029 of some plot against Lincoln. A plot? Seriously? 00:26:47.250 --> 00:26:49.549 Yeah, it led to a public spat with Secretary 00:26:49.549 --> 00:26:52.430 of State Seward. Pierce had to have his personal 00:26:52.430 --> 00:26:55.589 letters read in Congress to clear his name. But 00:26:55.589 --> 00:26:57.849 he kept criticizing Lincoln, accusing him of 00:26:57.849 --> 00:27:00.359 abusing presidential power. He called the war 00:27:00.359 --> 00:27:04.119 cruel, heartless, aimless, unnecessary. Wow. 00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:06.859 So he remained defiant and deeply unpopular in 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:08.819 the North right through the war. Pretty much. 00:27:09.140 --> 00:27:11.279 His criticism of Lincoln cemented that negative 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:13.920 legacy for many. He was seen by some as almost 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.619 treasonous. And his personal life after the presidency. 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:20.839 More tragedy. Sadly, yes. His wife Jane died 00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:23.940 in 1863 from her long battle with tuberculosis. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:27.480 Then his close friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne, died 00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:29.960 in 1864 while they were actually traveling together. 00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:32.640 That's rough. Hawthorne had controversially dedicated 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:35.480 his last book to Pierce, hadn't he? He had. Our 00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:38.039 old home caused quite a stir because Pierce was 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:40.539 so unpopular by then. Pierce's own health declined 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:43.380 too, largely due to heavy drinking. Alcoholism? 00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:45.920 Seems so. He died of cirrhosis of the liver in 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:49.150 1869 at age 64. He did become more spiritual 00:27:49.150 --> 00:27:51.309 towards the end, getting baptized into the Episcopal 00:27:51.309 --> 00:27:53.670 Church, his wife's faith. A difficult end to 00:27:53.670 --> 00:27:56.410 a difficult life. Was there any public reaction 00:27:56.410 --> 00:27:59.190 to his death? There was. Interestingly, President 00:27:59.190 --> 00:28:01.589 Grant, the same Grant who defended his courage, 00:28:01.990 --> 00:28:04.269 declared a national day of mourning. So, despite 00:28:04.269 --> 00:28:06.569 the controversy, he hadn't entirely vanished 00:28:06.569 --> 00:28:09.250 from public memory. There was one last flashpoint, 00:28:09.410 --> 00:28:11.789 too, after Lincoln's assassination. Oh, what 00:28:11.789 --> 00:28:14.009 happened? A lob gathered outside his house in 00:28:14.009 --> 00:28:16.230 Concord, demanding to know why he wasn't flying 00:28:16.230 --> 00:28:19.210 a flag for Lincoln. Pierce came out apparently 00:28:19.210 --> 00:28:22.329 quite angry, but also patriotic, basically saying 00:28:22.329 --> 00:28:25.109 his record of service spoke for itself. It seemed 00:28:25.109 --> 00:28:28.170 to satisfy the crowd. Huh. Still a complex figure. 00:28:28.410 --> 00:28:31.670 Right to the end. So how do historians ultimately 00:28:31.670 --> 00:28:34.250 rate him? You mentioned the rankings earlier. 00:28:34.450 --> 00:28:36.950 Yeah, the consensus is pretty bleak. Consistently 00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:39.470 ranked near the very bottom worst, least memorable. 00:28:39.849 --> 00:28:43.029 C -span polls put him third to last. Historian 00:28:43.029 --> 00:28:45.509 Eric Foner called his administration one of the 00:28:45.509 --> 00:28:48.509 most disastrous in American history. Ouch. Pretty 00:28:48.509 --> 00:28:50.890 damning. Biographer Roy Nichols basically called 00:28:50.890 --> 00:28:53.430 him an accident. An inexperienced man trying 00:28:53.430 --> 00:28:56.029 his best but lacking the temperamental fitness 00:28:56.029 --> 00:28:58.609 for the job. The general view is that he was 00:28:58.609 --> 00:29:00.930 reactive, indecisive, and ultimately made the 00:29:00.930 --> 00:29:03.549 sectional crisis much worse. So the overwhelming 00:29:03.549 --> 00:29:06.150 view is negative. But you mentioned diverse interpretations 00:29:06.150 --> 00:29:08.630 earlier. Not everyone blames him entirely. Right. 00:29:08.809 --> 00:29:11.710 Some historians, like Peter Wallner, push back 00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:14.470 against laying it all at Pierce's feet. Wallner 00:29:14.470 --> 00:29:16.710 argues Pierce was fundamentally a nationalist, 00:29:17.089 --> 00:29:19.390 trying to find some middle ground, however flawed, 00:29:19.630 --> 00:29:22.069 to keep the union together. He thinks it's unfair 00:29:22.069 --> 00:29:24.329 to blame him solely for failing to prevent the 00:29:24.329 --> 00:29:27.589 inevitable. So maybe a tragic figure caught in 00:29:27.589 --> 00:29:30.069 impossible circumstances. That's one perspective. 00:29:30.569 --> 00:29:32.410 But then you have others, like Larry Garrah, 00:29:32.589 --> 00:29:34.470 who say, OK, he worked hard, wasn't corrupt, 00:29:35.009 --> 00:29:37.509 but his policies on Cuba and Kansas were disastrous. 00:29:37.769 --> 00:29:40.170 They argue he just didn't understand the depth 00:29:40.170 --> 00:29:42.710 of anti -slavery feeling in the North, lacked 00:29:42.710 --> 00:29:45.789 the superhuman skills needed, and clung to an 00:29:45.789 --> 00:29:48.250 outdated view of the Constitution. So the debate 00:29:48.250 --> 00:29:51.049 is really about agency versus historical forces. 00:29:51.549 --> 00:29:54.430 Was he a victim of his time or did his own flaws 00:29:54.430 --> 00:29:56.529 and decisions make things significantly worse? 00:29:56.670 --> 00:29:59.269 Exactly. Was he trying to navigate an impossible 00:29:59.269 --> 00:30:01.990 storm or did he steer the ship directly onto 00:30:01.990 --> 00:30:05.049 the rocks? It's a complex question with no easy 00:30:05.049 --> 00:30:07.420 answer. And yet, despite this terrible historical 00:30:07.420 --> 00:30:10.059 reputation, he's still memorialized, right? Especially 00:30:10.059 --> 00:30:12.940 in New Hampshire. He is. There's Franklin Pierce 00:30:12.940 --> 00:30:15.599 University, the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:18.779 Property at UNH Law School. His family homestead 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:20.980 is a historic site. There's even a statue of 00:30:20.980 --> 00:30:22.799 him at the state capitol. It's kind of jarring, 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:25.119 isn't it, given how poorly he's ranked as president? 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:27.319 What does that tell us? That's a great question. 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.759 Is it just local pride? acknowledging a native 00:30:30.759 --> 00:30:33.079 son who reached the highest office, regardless 00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:35.359 of his performance, or maybe it just shows that 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:37.920 history is complicated and even figures seen 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.400 as failures remain part of the story, part of 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:42.240 the landscape. Yeah, history isn't always neat 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:44.819 and tidy. We remember the good, the bad, and 00:30:44.819 --> 00:30:48.039 the complicated. Absolutely. So we've traced 00:30:48.039 --> 00:30:50.460 Franklin Pierce's journey from that charming 00:30:50.460 --> 00:30:54.119 young man marked by terrible personal loss to 00:30:54.119 --> 00:30:56.259 a president whose attempts to find compromise, 00:30:56.500 --> 00:30:58.880 particularly on slavery, arguably just fueled 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:01.700 the fire. A man of integrity in some ways, capable 00:31:01.700 --> 00:31:04.220 of administrative reform, yet whose political 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:06.819 choices around Kansas, Nebraska and the Fugitive 00:31:06.819 --> 00:31:10.259 Sleeve Act had devastating consequences. It really 00:31:10.259 --> 00:31:13.160 forces you to think, doesn't it? In times of 00:31:13.160 --> 00:31:15.980 deep national division, especially over fundamental 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:19.180 moral issues, can a leader truly find a middle 00:31:19.180 --> 00:31:21.650 ground? If that ground requires compromising 00:31:21.650 --> 00:31:25.289 on justice. Or does trying to appease everyone 00:31:25.289 --> 00:31:27.630 end up pleasing no one and making the underlying 00:31:27.630 --> 00:31:30.009 problem worse? Right. How do you balance unity 00:31:30.009 --> 00:31:32.470 with conscience? It's a question that Pierce 00:31:32.470 --> 00:31:35.049 faced in the 1850s, and it's a question that 00:31:35.049 --> 00:31:37.130 in many ways we're still wrestling with today. 00:31:37.289 --> 00:31:39.250 It certainly resonates. Well, thank you for joining 00:31:39.250 --> 00:31:42.130 us on this deep dive into a complex and controversial 00:31:42.130 --> 00:31:42.710 presidency.