 |
Franklin Pierce
b. 23 Nov 1804, Hillsborough, New Hampshire
d. 8 Oct 1869, Concord, New Hampshire |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
4 Mar 1853 - 4 Mar 1857 |
| Chronology: |
9 Feb 1853,
election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast 1 Dec 1852),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1] |
|
4 Mar 1853,
commencement of term |
|
4 Mar 1853,
made an affirmation of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the special session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2] |
|
4 Mar 1857,
expiration of term |
| Biography: |
| Attended the academies of Hancock and Francestown, New Hampshire; prepared for college at Exeter and graduated from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, in 1824; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Hillsborough in 1827; member, State general court (1829-1833), and served as speaker (1832-1833); elected as a Democrat to the 23rd and 24th Congresses (4 Mar 1833 - 4 Mar 1837); elected as a Democrat to the US Senate and served from 4 Mar 1837 to 28 Feb 28, 1842, when he resigned; chairman, Committee on Pensions (26th Congress); resumed the practice of law in Concord; district attorney for New Hampshire; declined the appointment as Attorney General of the United States tendered by President James Polk; served in the Mexican War as a colonel and brigadier general; member of the New Hampshire State constitutional convention in 1850 and served as its president; elected President of the United States on the Democratic ticket in 1852; sidestepped the antagonisms of the domestic scene by promoting the extension of U.S. territorial and commercial interests abroad; recognized the dubious regime set up in Nicaragua by an American adventurer (1855); gained limited access to Japanese ports as a result of Commodore Matthew Perry's expedition to Japan (1853-1854); acquired from Mexico almost 78,000 square km of territory to open the way for a southerly route to California (1853; the Gadsden Purchase); enacted the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) to stimulate migration to the Northwest; was unable to stop the struggle between proslavery and antislavery advocates in Kansas (1854-1859); was not a candidate for reelection in 1856; resumed the practice of law. |
| Biographical sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (1 Dec 1852) |
| Franklin Pierce |
254 |
| Winfield Scott |
42 |
| total number of electors appointed |
296 |
| number of votes for a majority |
149 |
|
| Source of electoral results: Senate Journal, 32nd Congress, 2nd Session, 181; Congressional Globe, 32nd Congress, 2nd Session, 549-550.
|
| |
| [1] |
Senate Journal, 32nd Congress, 2nd Session, 180-182; Congressional Globe, 32nd Congress, 2nd Session, 549-550. |
| [2] |
Senate Journal, 32nd Congress, 2nd Session, Appendix, 327-337; Congressional Globe, 32nd Congress, 3rd Session, 243-245. |
