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Franklin Pierce: New Hampshire's Favorite Son

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What a pleasure it was to read a new biography of Franklin Pierce! Peter Wallner's scupulously researched and well written book is a fine re-assessment of Pierce's tragic life leading up to the Presidency. When one takes into account all he went through, with his wife and the tragic death of his son, it is a wonder he functioned at all as chief executive.
After waiting nearly 85 years since the last bio of Pierce this one was well worth the wait, however, I'm sorry we have to wait another two years to read the second half of the narrative involving his Presidency and the retirement years. I'm sure Peter Wallner will do the same great research and weave the narrative in the same easy to read manner as he has done in the first volume. It will certainly be worth the wait, I'm sure.

For years Franklin Pierce has been ill-served by the nation's historians, nearly all of whom repeat the same things about him--that he was an alcoholic, a coward in the Mexican-American war, pro-slavery and one of the reasons why this country had a Civil War.

Unfortunetely such judgements are basedly largely on biased accounts written decades ago, such as Allen Nevin's "Ordeal of the Union," an enormously slanted work on the events leading up to the Civil War; thus repeating for succeeding generations the same tired old myths without bothering to take a new look at where those myths originated.

In recent years the most important attack on Pierce came in the form of an essay written by William W. Freehling, who admits he borrowed from Nevin, in a guide called "The Presidents: A Reference History." In it, Freehling delivers what could only be described as a personal attack on the 14th president, calling him, among other things, "an inconsequential charmer," a "pleasant nonentity," and "a non-actor clinging to more powerful statemen's actions as if they were his own."

Freehling's very brief scholarship on Pierce's years after the White House are the most disturbing and incorrect. He claims, without providing any documentary evidence, that Pierce sank "deeply into an alcoholic haze," and died in 1869 "almost unnoticed, once again almost unknown."

In fact, Pierce's death was a day of national mourning called for by President Ulysses S. Grant (even the U.S. Supreme Court suspended activities), with his controversial life and career vigorously debated and amply covered by the nation's most important newspapers: The New York Times, the New York Herald, the New York Tribune and the Washigton Star, among others.

I am the author of a book called "The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce: the Story of a President and the Civil War," which mostly focuses on Pierce's activities as an ex-president during the Civil War years, when he fought against President Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus and urged the government to enter into negotiations with the Confederacy.

Far from sinking into an alcoholic haze, Pierce remained remarkably active and vigorous in retirement, engaged in contemporary debate, and compiling a record of political participation that is perhaps only equalled by Harry Truman in the decade or so after he left the White House in 1953.

For a much larger look at Pierce and his complex rise to the top during his New Hampshire years, Peter Wallner's book is a welcome addition. Unlike Freehling and others, Wallner has actually gone through the Pierce papers (the vast majority of which are available in the archives of the New Hampshire Historical Collection and through the Library of Congress' presidential papers microfilm series).

The end result is a work of solid scholarship that in no way serves to apologize for anything that Pierce does, but effectively dismantles the "non-entity" noose that others have tried to hang him with. Wallner copiously explores every aspect of Pierce's career leading up to his landslide election in 1852, and the result is a profile of a politician who was remarkably good at what he did.

Incidentally, Wallner finally puts to rest the idea that Pierce was plucked from hinterland obscurity when delegates to the Democratic convention in 1852 named him as their presidential nominee. In fact, Pierce angled for months behind the scenes to get the nod, and adriotly figured that if the other, more well-known candidates cancelled themselves out, he would have a real shot at being nominated in a later ballot.

Pierce's cunning and guile in just that contest alone, as amply demonstrated by Wallner, showed that he was actually an astute and capable political strategist.

What Wallner will tell us about Pierce as president, and whatever other myths he may effectively demolish, can only be imagined. His style is quiet and respectful, slowly building a case that casts historians like Freehling, who have appraoched the Pierce presidency a bit too breezily, in an unfavorble light.

Surely the second volume of Wallner's biography of Pierce will effectively (if the first volume has not already done so) establish him as the preeminent Pierce scholar of our time, doing for the 14th president what Arthur Schlesinger did for FDR.

Garry Boulard, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

It has been nigh on to 100 years since there was a complete biography of Franklin Pierce published and in that time there have been many changes in the way historians look at things. Revisionism and Counter-Revisionism and all sorts of isms have swept through the historical community but until now no one has thought to take another look at Franklin Pierce. Back in my college days I sat through classes during which the professors only mentioned Pierce in a negative light and in one class I had as a textbook a book that was very hard on Pierce and the notion that he was a horrible president and person just never seemed to be challenged. Finally in this book those notions are beginning to be challenged and in a forceful and thought provoking way.

The basis for most of the Pierce bashing comes from the idea that he was not only pro Southern but also pro-slavery and neither could be farther from the truth. Of course this book doesn't deal with his presidency or the Civil War but just with his life up until his first night in the White House but the author proves quite satisfactorily that Pierce only supported the South in matters where he believed that the Constitution was on their side and that he deplored slavery but felt that it was protected by the Constitution and to Pierce nothing was more sacred than the Constitution. The Constitution in Pierce's mind was the only thing that stood between the common man and absolute domination of the country by the rich and powerful and he wasn't willing to sacrifice that for any cause no matter how noble.

The author also does an excellent job of explaining Pierce's dislike for abolitionists above and beyond the fact that he felt that they were a threat to the Union. Pierce spent most of his life fighting for the common man and especially for religious liberty including a court case where he put his popularity on the line to defend the Shaker sect from persecution. Many of the people who sought to persecute the Shakers were abolitionists and also many abolitionists were violently anti-Catholic and Pierce began to see most abolitionists as religious bigots, which in fact many of them were. In Pierce's mind racial bigotry and religious bigotry were equally noxious and he came to detest all abolitionists because of their association with this intolerant attitude. To Pierce those who chose to lie down with dogs most certainly got up with fleas.

Mr. Wallner has done an excellent job with this book and although he has to some extent fallen into the biographer's trap of becoming too enamored by his subject he has at least backed up all of his ascertains with good research. This is a well-written and very enjoyable book that gives the reader a good look at Franklin Pierce's pre-presidential life both private and public. A lot of President Pierce's policies may look bad in hindsight but thanks to Mr. Wallner one can easily see where his core beliefs came from. Any student of the presidency will want to pick up this book as will any Civil War buff but just keep in mind that while history has not been kind to Pierce Mr. Wallner may have been a bit too kind to him. I very much look forward to volume two.

Franklin Pierce is one of the most obscure presidents in our history. Few history classes deal with his politics, and the average history student would not know even a single policy he brought to light. In fact, his reputation is widely thought to be as a man with a terrible temper, made worse by his drinking.

The author, Peter Wallner, looks to debunk many of these myths in the first serious biography of Pierce in almost 75 years.

I would have to say that I learned much about the man and the times in reading this biography, although it was told in a dry narrative. Ante-bellum politics were a far different world than exists today, as the Republican party was in its infancy, and the Whigs were still a major force. Pierce was a die-hard Democrat, with the feeling being that he really believed what he was, and his principles were squarely with the people.

He was a man of rock hard principle, with the rare combination of really being able to connect in a human way with the common man.

But life in the mid-1800's was forbidding, and Pierce suffered through immense personal tragedy, even shortly before he moved into the White House.

My complaint is that this book takes us only from his birth to inauguration night. There is a second volume.

Pierce did not have the dramatic presidency of an FDR, the incredible political career of an LBJ, or the precipitous fall of a Richard Nixon. There is no reason to cut his life into two volumes, and make a reader shell out $30- for each.

Pierce belongs in a historical context, with the other Presidents, but this book was "only" 258 pages of reading, and his White House career and the rest of his life could have easily fit in one book.

That said, there are few outlets to learn of his life and presidential career, and this would seem to be a pretty worthwhile venue.

This is the story about a handsome, gifted son of a colorful Revolutionary War veteran and governor, who seemingly with little effort became Speaker of the N.H. House at age 27, then a congressman, senator, general in the Mexican War, was among the most celebrated lawyers in his home state, turned down a presidential appointment to be U.S. attorney general, only to later become President himself. All this by age 48. With such a life, of course, came much suffering. Wouldn't you know it. With the talent and success, there was a flow of self doubt, inner torment, struggles with faith and the bottle, a difficult marriage, and huge personal grief. With the eloquence, brilliant mind and good looks was also stubbornness and political vindictiveness. It's a familiar story that always fascinates. Bright boy from a powerful, connected family makes it big, really big, but it all ends sadly. This story about Franklin Pierce is wonderfully and freshly told by author Peter A. Wallner, whose college mentor was the biographer of another president of the same era, Philip Shriver Klein (President James Buchanan: A Biography, Penn State Press, 1962; reprinted: American Political Biography Press, 1995). Drawing on documents unavailable to previous biographers, Wallner's Franklin Pierce, New Hampshire's Favorite Son is actually the first of a two volume project, covering the years from birth, to the election of 1852, to just before entering the White House. The second volume, dealing with the presidential years, is reportedly due for publication in early 2007. If it's like the first, the set will be an important new look at an easily passed over, but critical period. Let's face it. As presidents go, Franklin Pierce has not had a huge following since his one-term administration ended in 1857 (he was not renominated by his own party). Our 14th president along with the seven others between Jackson and Lincoln, rest in a kind of historical blur amid the years leading to the Civil War. Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan...not much there to inspire generations of school children, or historians for that matter (possibly excepting Polk). That's why it's so interesting, even surprising to see such a high quality, readable work about one of these to emerge. More proof that anyone capable of getting elected to the White House must certainly have a great story, if only it can be told well enough to appeal to an audience outside of academia. In this, Peter Wallner has truly delivered, and in doing so has given all who love American history, especially those interested in the Antebellum Period, a great gift indeed.

I am reviewing volume 1 of Wallner's Pierce biography before reading volume 2 so they do not run together in my mind. I agree with the previous reviewer's comment that they should have been issued in one comprehensive volume.

First, the good. This was a very interesting read. It was well-written, well-edited and appeared to have been well-researched and based mostly on primary materials. It did a good job of explaining in a favorable light Pierce's positions on the more controversial topics of his day. It portrays Pierce in a very positive and sympathetic light--which was probably needed to balance out the highly negative treatment that he has traditionally received. I have not yet read Nichols' biography, but I think this will become the preferred Pierce biography for those like me who aspire to reading a biography on every US President. Again, it would be nice if this were printed as a single volume.

Now, the negatives. There really is just one, but it is a big one in my view. In his attempt to repair Pirce's historical reputation, I think the author has gone overboard in his adulation of his subject to the point of jeopardizing his credibility. I don't have the book with me to cite specific examples, but it became plainly obvious in the opening chapters with multiple sweeping (and unsupported) assertions to the effect of "Pierce always treated others fairly and respectfully" and "Pierce always maintained consistent political positions throughout his career" (a slight exaggeration--but only slight) that Wallner was more interested in presenting his "vision" of Franklin Pierce than in writing an objective biography. You only have to thumb through the book to find numerous similar examples of sweeping general statements in Pierce's favor that professional historians rarely make regarding their subjects. On the contrary, I do not recall a single statement in the entire book that could be construed as critical of Pierce or his actions or decisions.

Maybe those statements were correct, but they were so sweeping in nature, unsupported by the accompanying text and completely gratuitious that they made me doubt Mr. Wallner's objectivity and credibility. So I was forced to take everything else with a grain of salt. Maybe all of the criticism of Pierce was saved for volume 2?

In sum, this was a very entertaining and informative read, but I discerned a clear bias in Pierce's favor that made me doubt that this was a fair or balanced treatment of the subject.

I happened to catch an interview with Mr. Wallner, as conducted by Brian Lamb, on C-Span's "Booknotes" program ( www.booknotes.org - you can watch the interview yourself! ) I must confess that I have not yet read Mr. Wallner's book on Franklin Pierce, as I just viewed the interview yesterday and took note that the only way to acquire a copy is through his publisher, www.plaidswede.com , or through Amazon here. I must say this guy... REALLY knows his stuff, I've rarely taken note of anyone so cultured of a particular subject, namely even a former president of the US we find so obscure as President Franklin Pierce (who would have thought anybody would spend years of their life on a quest to discover the man?) and to make the topic so fascinating. For some reason, I couldn't change the channel on Mr. Wallner. I'm going to give this book a sweep, and I must say I am greatly looking forward to my read. Believe it or not - fascinating stuff!! Check out at least the interview on Booknotes.org - I guarantee you'll see what I mean.

I just finished reading this book and found it interesting and well-written. It convinced me that Pierce was an exceptional politician, honest, hardworking, sincere and well liked. He was a leader in New Hampshire for many years. What struck me as odd was the fact that it ended shortly about his inauguration. There was no mention of his presidency and why he was considered a failure. Perhaps the author intends to write a second book. However, this is not evident in the first one. Also, Pierce is often tagged with the reputation as a drunk. Wallner does not delve into this problem. He points out that Pierce gave up drinking and was in favor of convincing other people to do the same.

Since Pierce was such an obscure president, there are very few books on his life. Wallner points out that he was able to consult many manuscripts that were not previous available.
That would indicate that this short life is authoritative, as far as it goes. If you want another good biography, the only one by a historian is by Nichols, but it was written decades ago. The one by Gara is not recommended. It is mainly about the period and rarely mentions Pierce by name.

For those who have interest in studying tough, stong, capable men who achieve our highest office but yet fail to achieve anticipated heights of power and glory, this brief, taut biography gives insights into a northeastern political power who harbors quiet sentiments for the South's "peculiar institution" and who fails due to the dichotomy of constituent demands.

An interesting human drama played against a transitioning political background.

Wallner provides an excellent biography on the life of Franklin Peirce however this book does not include his time as president. It provides an excellent overview on how Pierce attained the presidency and his turbulent if unknown political career came to fruition. The book clearly assesses his role in helping to shape many political outcomes in New Hampshire and focuses a little on his time in the congress. What is truly impressive about Pierce and his attainment of the presidency is that he does not spend his entire life in public office. In fact he is out of office and serving mores a party leader than anything else for much of the time. As the author points out he is often in the right place at the right time. For those who want to learn a little more about Pierce the man this is a great place to start. Wallner's second book will take the reader into the presidency.