Presidency of Franklin Pierce

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

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Changes of government, elections and reigns

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Date of occurrence 1853-03-04-1857-03-04

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United States (Location)

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At the time of his election, Pierce was the youngest man to assume the office of the presidency. He was 47. In the run-up to the election in 1853, the Democratic Party was deeply divided. A number of candidates, Lewis Cass, Stephen A. Douglas, and James Buchanan, split party members and tested loyalties. Not surprisingly, a deadlock developed. Pierce, who had been out of the picture for a number of years, was seen as a reasonable and appealing alternative. He was dubbed “Young Hickory,” and he was nominated on the 49th ballot. Thereafter, Franklin Pierce unexpectedly won the presidential election against Winfield Scott, the Whig candidate. Pierce took 254 electoral votes compared to Scott's 42. However, Pierce entered the presidency on a note of tragedy, as his child was killed in an…

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376 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Presidency of Franklin Pierce". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 January 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=441, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Presidency of Franklin Pierce

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