PIERCE 



4C6o 



PIERCE 



(ml Benjamin Pierco. won his military title in 

 tin- Revolutionary \V;.r. and later served two 

 terms as governor of New Hampshire. As a 

 boy and young man, Franklin had all the ad- 

 vantages which come to the son of a distin- 

 guished pan-in. At Bowdoin College, which he 

 :i 1820, he became most intimate with 

 N'ath anii I Hawthorne, and in his circle of 

 ndfi were tli. poet Longfellow and John P. 

 Many 5 < ira ! M. r \\ Je mat I';* ro 'a col- 



- Knifed Stairs Senator from N- u 

 :\al candidate 



iicy. After graduating from col- 

 iii 1S21. Pierce lu nan the study of law in 

 tl,,- office of 1 . ,||, U ry (1789-1851). who 



was at that time governor of New Hampshire, 

 and I'nited States Senator, a member 



of .lack-oil's and Van Buren's Cabinets, and 

 finally Associate Justice of the United States 

 Supreme Court. 



His Political Career. Pierce was admitted to 

 the bar in 1827. but two years later abandoned 

 the law for public life. This was a natural step 

 for an ambitious young man who had been 

 -inc. bmhood in continuous association with 

 public men. H - fin( office was that of repre- 

 Mive in the ri iture. He was re- 



elected three times, and during two terms 

 served as speaker of the house, an unusual 

 honor for a man under thirty years of age. 



Pierce was just twenty-eight years old when 

 the Democrats nominated and elected him to 

 the 1'mted States House of Representatives. 

 Tin ; ed until his election to the Sen- 



m 1837. When he took his seat he had 

 the distinction of being the youngest, member 

 of that body. He became a vigorous supporter 



of the pohcn- laid down by President .lack-oil 



and fi.l lowed by President Van Buren. He op- 

 posed the renewal of the charter for the Hank 

 of the ("mt<d States, Voted aUMin-t appropria- 

 tion- for the Military Academy at West Point, 

 UK! occasion fought appropriations for 



.' nt-. It i> interesting to 

 however, that he did not approve the 

 -poil- .-v-tein. which was advocated both by 

 Mid by Van Buien In Congress at 



till- time wele the political \l : Moll. 



\\ . I ' ' and Calhoun. who -oimuhat 



< r mil t.' 

 'in leas missed after 1842. v.li n !, 



:ied the practice of law 

 DuririK 'he ne\t five years Pierce h 



rtnnity after another to re, nt r politic d 



litV. ' i hi- intention 



MII to hold public ofl Mior 



of New Hampshire offered him an appointment 

 to the Senate to fill a vacancy; the Democrats 

 of the state urged him to accept the nomination 

 for governor, and President Polk tendered him 

 the Attorney-Generalship of the United States. 

 But Pierce declined each offer in turn. He did 

 not, h< o take an interest in poli- 



:id was consulted by Democratic leaders 

 on questions of party policy. He even took the 



FRANKLIN PIERCE 



The third of four Presidents of the United 

 States who were horn in New Knul.iml. The 

 Adamses, father ajid son. were stun I y New Kng- 

 land t\pfs: Arthur, the fourth, is rated as a son 

 of New Viirk. for most of his life was spent in 

 that state. 



stump against John P. Hale, his friend and col- 

 mate, in the famous campaign known a- 



-the Hale -torm Of 1845." 



Hale was a Democratic Representative from 

 New Hainp-hire who had won prominence by 

 his opposition to "gag rule " He was renomi- 

 nated by the state convention in 1844, but when 



the sl Me I, ri-l Mure resolved that the New 



II ip-hire members of Congress should 

 for t MI on of Texas, he issued a state- 



ment opposing annexation on ann-li 

 groun-1- Th- comention wa< ha-tily reassem- 

 bled. Hale wa declared a traitor to i 

 and In- name was taken off the tick- t H. 

 then tan as an independent, but neither he nor 

 the Whin candidate received a majority of the 

 !! nod on a whirlwind 



: iiL'U to win New Hainp-hne to the anti- 

 -la\ and in ! of a powerful 



