Pity poor Franklin Pierce. Once regarded for his brilliant mind and promising future, Pierce was one of a handful of people to achieve his nation’s highest office — only to be all but forgotten. Those who do remember the one-term president tend to focus on his failures in the White House. He is largely regarded as one of these successful presidents of all time.

In reviewing the Pierce years, there is little that would cause anyone to smile. Bad fortune seemed to follow him everywhere, leading some to wonder if his administration was under some sort of curse. Before taking office, a horrible personal tragedy threatened to crush all joy out of his life. The sadness that followed stayed with him for the years that followed.

What was the tragic cloud of despair that hung over the nation’s 14th president? Join us as we explore the tragic and overlooked presidency of Franklin Pierce.

Pierce was the Democratic Party’s dark horse nominee for the 1852 presidential election. It was on the 49th ballot that delegates settled on the politician from New Hampshire. Having served in the House of Representatives and the Senate, Pierce took a break from politics to fight in the Mexican War. He was practicing law when he received his party’s nomination. He defeated Whig candidate Winfield Scott in the general election, and it seemed favor was smiling upon him.

Any joy he might have experienced as he prepared to assume the presidency soon came to an abrupt and depressing end. As Pierce, his wife, Jane, and their 11-year-old son Bennie journeyed by train to Washington, D.C., tragedy struck. A train accident spared the President-elect, but took the life of young Bennie. The parents were devastated, but it was especially hard on Jane. She spent the rest of her life in mourning and seclusion, leaving Franklin to bear the heavy responsibilities of the presidency by himself.

Without his wife to comfort him, Pierce turned to the bottle. Rumors of alcoholism persisted throughout his four years in office. During that time, he became the first president to be accused of driving while under the influence of alcohol and drunkenly running over an elderly woman with his carriage. While the truth of this story remains unverified, it certainly didn’t help his reputation.

On the political front, Pierce’s support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the fugitive slave laws made him a polarizing figure. His policies are often seen as accelerating the division that led to the Civil War. Even though Pierce was against secession, his strong pro-Southern stance and his choice of Jefferson Davis—who would later become President of the Confederacy—as his Secretary of War only deepened Northern suspicions about his loyalty.

One potential source of happiness for the president was his friendship with the renowned author Nathaniel Hawthorne. The men met as students at Bowdoin College in the 1820s. Their friendship only deepened in the years that followed. When Pierce became president, he appointed Hawthorne as the U.S. consul in Liverpool, England. The job paid between $30,000 and $40,000 (between $1.25 million and $1.6 million in 2024, when adjusted for inflation) and had few responsibilities. This left the author a lot of time for writing.

During his time in England, Hawthorne wrote a book of essays and dedicated it to Franklin Pierce: “…it rests among my certainties that no man’s loyalty is more steadfast, no man’s hopes or apprehensions on behalf of our national existence more deeply heartfelt, or more closely intertwined with his possibilities of personal happiness, than those of Franklin Pierce.”

Despite Hawthorne’s support, Pierce remained unpopular in the U.S., largely due to his anti-abolitionist stance. Pierce couldn’t even keep the loyalty of his own party. In 1856, he became the first — and thus far only — elected president to be denied the nomination of his party for a second term. The party nominated James Buchanan, pursuing a philosophy that was voiced by the slogan, “Anybody But Pierce.”

Pierce left the White House as a deeply depressed and highly unpopular man. Jane remained in seclusion for the rest of her life, dying in December 1863. With Jane’s passing, Pierce’s friendship with Hawthorne became more precious to him. Six months after Jane’s death, Pierce joined Hawthorne for a trip to the White Mountains, hoping that the change of environment would benefit both of them. It was while staying at the Pemigewasset Hotel that Nathaniel Hawthorne passed away on May 19, 1864. It was Franklin Pierce who found him.

Later, reflecting on the sad occasion, Pierce recalled:

“Passing from his room to my own, leaving the door open and so placing the lamp that its direct rays would not fall upon him and yet enable me to see distinctly from my bed, I betook myself to rest too, a little after ten o’clock. But I awoke before twelve, and noticed that he was lying in a perfectly natural position, like a child, with his right hand under his cheek. That noble brow and face struck me as more grand serenely calm then than ever before. With new hope that such undisturbed repose might bring back fresh vigor, I fell asleep again; but he was so very restless the night previous that I was surprised and startled when I noticed, at three o’clock, that his position was identically the same as when I observed him between eleven and twelve. Hastening softly to his bedside, I could not perceive that he breathed, although no change had come over his features. I seized his wrist, but found no pulse; ran my hands down upon his bare side, but the great, generous, brave heart beat no more.”

Despite his close friendship with Hawthorne, Pierce was not as popular with author’s other friends, such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Consequently, Pierce was denied the honor of serving as a pallbearer at Hawthorne’s funeral. One can only imagine his morose thoughts as he sat through the funeral, reflecting on all those whom he had lost.

Franklin Pierce’s time in office is a sobering reminder of how personal tragedy and political errors can intertwine, leaving a legacy that’s more about misfortune and missteps than triumphs. Perhaps he has earned his place as one of America’s worst presidents. Before you rush to condemn him, however, you might pause to consider everything he endured and cut the poor guy a bit of slack.

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