Life of Franklin Pierce [Paperback]

Nathaniel Hawthorne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2002

The Life of Franklin Pierce was written as a "campaign life" shortly before the election of Pierce to the presidency in 1852.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Fredonia Books (NL) (December 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410202933
• ISBN-13: 978-1410202932
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,503,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hawthorne hits the Campaign Trail, November 29, 1999

By 

Antoninus Caracallus - See all my reviews

Imagine, if you will, Martin Scorsese directing a half-hour biographical sketch of George W. Bush. What would that be like? I suspect it would the the year 2000 equivelent of this 19th Century book.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of 'The Scarlet Letter' and 'The Marble Fawn', was a friend of Franklin Pierce. So much so that he agreed to write the future president's campaign biography in 1852. Here we have an interesting relationship between a man considered by many to be one of the country's greatest men of letters and a man considered by many to be among its worst presidents. What does Hawthorne say about Pierce? It is pretty much standard fair for an antebellum election, and of course it is quite lauditory. But, how many candidates could recruit a writer of Hawthorne's stature to write his campaign literature.

Please remember this is a campaign biography. Its purpose is to help get Pierce elected - to put him forward as the best option (over old Fuss and Feathers Winfield Scott) in 1852. It is a product of its times and an amazing read, but not much of a biography by today's standards. If you want an analysis of the personality and presidency of Franklin Pierce you should look elsewere.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Project By Middle School Students, May 13, 2001

By 

Lawrence D. David (Amherst, New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life of Franklin Pierce (Hardcover)

The project of reprinting this edition of Hawthorne's biography of Franklin Pierce was undertaken by students at the Brett Middle School in Tamworth, NH, under the guidance of their teacher, Brian Wiggin (OK, he's my cousin, but that does not diminish the validity of my praise for this project). In doing so the students had to delve into material on Pierce outside of the original text.

They did a most impressive job. For one, this was not one of Hawthorne's masterpieces. His prose is extremely bloated and garrulous. How these middle school students waded through it is a miracle. Two, this book, which was essentially a campaign pamphlet from the 19th century, does offer modern readers some fresh, even though biased insights on Pierce, who is considered one of our worst presidents by many historians. It is quite clear that Pierce neither sought nor desired the position, and was ill-prepared to handle the imminent breakup of the nation he loved.

The best part of the book is the excerpt from Pierce's journal he kept during the Mexican War. Only U.S. Grant's Memoirs contain more and better first-hand recollections of that conflict. Grant wrote his nearly 40 years after the war, while Pierce's were written during the war, so it is quite enlightening to compare the two.

A definitive evaluation of Pierce as a man and as a president, and it is quite damning, is in volume two of Allan Nevins's eight volume work, "Ordeal of the Union." No comprehensive biography of Pierce exists which bridges the gap between Hawthorne's friendly hagiography and Nevins's portrayal of Pierce as weak, lacking conviction, and of small character. Certainly Pierce occupied the White House in a definitive time in our nation's history. Someday a competent historian will undertake the task of writing a balanced biography of Pierce and his administration's role in either delaying or fomenting the Civil War. If the publication of Hawthorne's book has illustrated this need, then the Brett School project was, indeed, quite successful.

4 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A ONE-SIDED VIEW, September 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Life of Franklin Pierce (Hardcover)

AFTER READING THIS BOOK YOUR IMPRESSION IS FRANKLIN PIERCE IS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT EVER. THIS BOOK IS VERY ONE-SIDED. I WONDER WHAT THE AUTHOR RESEARCHED: NOT PIERCE.