Timeline Description: Franklin Pierce was the fourteenth American president. He was a popular man and was easily elected to office. However, he made many enemies once he was in the White House, and by the end of his presidency he was called the worst president in American history.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1804 | Franklin Pierce is born Franklin was born into a prestigious family in New Hampshire in the early 1800's. He was the only president to ever come from New Hampshire. |
| 1816 | Pierce gets an education Franklin Pierce's father had much concern over his children's education. Because of this, Franklin was sent to a school called Hancock Academy at the age of twelve. |
| 1824 | A college graduate Pierce worked hard through college, bringing his grades up from second to last all the way to third in the class. He made many friends in college including Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. |
| 1828 | A taste of politics Piece won his first political election in the town of Hillsborough as the town moderator. Pierce enjoyed his post and was re-elected six years in a row. |
| 1831 | Army life Franklin Pierce was also involved in the state militia. He moved up in rank from colonel to general during the Mexican-American War. |
| 1832 | Work in the US House Pierce's colleagues nominated him to a seat in the US House of Representatives. He was very excited to take office in late 1833. |
| 1834 | Pierce gets married Rumored to be complete opposites, Franklin Pierce and Jane Appleton were married and had three children. None of their children lived to adulthood. |
| 1837 | The US Senate Nominated, again, by friends, Franklin Pierce moved on to work in the Senate. He was the youngest Senator of his day. |
| 1842 | Pierce leaves politics Having moved to Concord previously, Pierce left politics to return home and run a law practice. He was a very successful businessmen. |
| 1846 | The Mexican-American War Tensions grew with Mexico after the annexation of Texas. When the Mexican-American War broke out, Franklin quickly stepped up to serve in the Army. |
| 1848 | Returning home a hero After his service in the war, the people of his home state, New Hampshire, rallied around Pierce. He was a hero and well-loved by many. |
| 1852 | Nominated as a presidential candidate As a part of the Democratic Party, Pierce was nominated as a presidential candidate because of his popular reputation. No one thought he would actually win, but he did! |
| 1853 | President Pierce began his presidency on a sad note, because at the beginning of the year his son died. Tensions quickly sprung up when he did nothing to calm the anger spreading over slavery. |
| 1854 | The Kansas-Nebraska Act The Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed as a repeal to the Compromise of 1850. It opened up the possibility of slavery in the west, and Americans railed against Pierce for it. |
| 1856 | A lost re-election Pierce's run for re-election was a failure, as so many people blamed him, in part, for the turmoil in the country. When the Civil War began, he sided with the South, and it further ostracized him. He died several years later in 1869, in Concord, New Hampshire. |