I just had to amend this review because by mistake I called Franklin Pierce, James Pierce.  James Pierce must've been Franklin's dodgy uncle or something.

Original: For some reason, James Pierce's hair reminds me of a 70's afro gone all wrong. 

One of the lower ranked presidents.  He was pretty much an alcohalic, and suffered great depression,  due to the deaths of his two sons,  and it obviously effected his presidency. 

He is the only president ever to come from New Hampshire.  I drove by his sign the other day.  I took off my cap in his honor.

Poor leadership helped lead to the Civil War

this isn't all of his life only a brief theroy

He was like Louis XV who stated Apres moi, le deluge! I suppose that the situation was hopeless, but not desperate.

Proobably the handsomest president, Pierce had no deeply held convictions about anything; his lack of leadership coontributed to the disastrous Buchanan Administration which followed, and ultimately the U.S. Civil War.

I should have paid attention in grade school. I never heard of this guy.

Historians are probably a bit too harsh in their criticism of Pierce. As an example, he had to send troops to Boston to secure the fugitive slave Anthony Burns--2,000 abolitionits had just murdered a U.S. marshal! Pierce felt the cause of abolition was just but that did not make the actions of the mob, in their zeal to free Burns, any less illegal. Still, there weren't many notable accomplishments during his term in office.

Hanseatic, what??? Pierce had 9 or so kids, only one of them lived to puberty (died at 13). He has no direct descendants. I have no clue what you are talking about. And you don't need that comma before because. He did nothing except spend a huge amount of money on desert. Was the only clearly pro south presidents we had and I believe he was from New Hampshire (could be wrong). Does not deserve more than a 1. UPDATE: You new guys are morons. drbowler, slavery had been rekindled during the Polk administration and never ceased. Please shut up or say something accurate. You are doing neither. ourtobbaco road, your vote and rating are not supposed to be based on your opinion of the someone else but on the presidency of Pierce. I'm sorry if this is a new name to you, but don't trash this site with your illegal posts.

better than the bushys

He should've listened to his son and his wife Jane and stayed home. He makes me ashamed to be a Democrat today, he didn't have a clue what he was doing.

Rekinded the slavery issue with the Kansas-Nebraska act. I also want pierce to be below Bush.

too weak willed to take a stand for or against the expansion of slavery; he would agree with one side, then he was easily pressured into agreeing with the other side instead

One of the worst.

Franklin Pierce has no real legacy as he virtually sat his whole term doing nothing. Undoubtedly, his inaction ultimately led to the Civil War as he refused to face the pressing issues of his time. Pierce was probably the worst President there ever was. But most damaging to Pierce was his increasingly anti-Lincoln, pro-Confederacy ranting during the Civil War. On a sidenote: when did a bunch of conservatives try to put a positive light on this man- and how is this relevant to Barbara Bush being his descendent? No one would try to put a positive light on Pierce's legacy BECAUSE THERE IS VIRTUALLY NOTHING POSITIVE ABOUT IT. It has nothing to do with who this man is related to, good or bad.

A bunch of conservatives are trying to put the Pierce presidency in a positive light, because Barbara Bush is one of his direct descendants.

Caused the Civil War.

almost as bad as the college that was named after him.

I love how he always made fun of Frank Burns.

Anybody is better than Bush

i loved him as i president he was so good then we have cooldigwe who was a blood hungry clown

Much better then dubya.

Better than that idiot there now.

I will be grading Presidents from now on based on five categories. The highest score that they can get in each category is a 5. I will add the scores of each category up and then average them. The categories are (1)Crisis Leadership (2) Diplomatic Relations (3) Economic Management (4) Vision For The Country and (5) Morality/Popularity. Franklin Pierce took office at a time in which the nation was ever more divided over slavery. Dealing with deep personal tragedies and losses, he unfortunately made unwise decisions which set the nation on an irreversable course to war. (1)Crisis Leadership: 2 out of 5 Stars- To be fair, Pierce tried his best to deal with the divisions. By signing the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, Pierce said that whether slavery would exist in the territorial area of Kansas and Nebraska would be left up to the settlers in that region. Almost immediately, southernors and abolishionists alike headed for Kansas to instill their own beliefs. The governor of the territory was somewhat anti-slavery and began to appease the abolishionists. The pro-slavery South demanded that Pierce fire the governor of Kansas. So he did, and replaced him with a Northern Slavery Sympathizer. When this occured, the abolishionists tried to instill their own government, and then bloodshed broke out. Hundreds of abolishionists and southenors alike were slain, and Kansas was a warzone without Civil Order. The President refused to send federal troops to stop the madness. (2)Diplomatic Relations: 3 out of 5 stars-Pierce found international affairs an enjoyable break from the domestic debates over slavery at home. Even though the Mexican War had ended, border disputes still existed in the southern parts of present-day Arizona and New Mexico. The President sent Senator James Gadson to Mexico, who made the Gadson purchase which consisted of southern Arizona and New Mexico and set the final border for the continental United States. Pierce tried in vain to purchase Cuba from Spain. Purchasing Cuba would have greatly pleased Southernors as the island permitted slavery. Due mainly to the actions of President Fillmore, a trade agreement was reached with Spain in which it opened itself up for trade. Pierce also rejected the annexation of Hawaii, instead promising to protect them from European control.(3)Economic Management: 2 out of 5 stars- Despite the continued debt from the Mexican War, the President paid $10 Million dollars to Mexico in order to make the Gadson purchase and was willing to spend $130 Million to purchase Cuba. The President really had no sense of money management and introduced no plan to pay off old debts. (4)Vision For The Country: 1 out of 5 stars- Pierce left no real mark on the office other than the purchase of a small amount of land in the Gadson Purchase. He did nothing to stop the bloodshed in Kansas, and was a very much failing President because he had no plans of what he wanted to do while in office. (5)Morality/Popularity: 2 out of 5 Stars- By the end of his administration, Pierce was not very popular due to the ongoing conflict in Kansas and elsewhere. He even was kicked off his party's ticket desite his wishes to run again. His refusal to stop the bloodshed in Kansas with federal force was a true sense of his lack of morals and consideration for the lives that were lost there. The bloodshed in Kansas can actually be considered the prelude to the Civil War. [Final Score: 2] In the final analysis, Pierce's Administration marked the first official bloodshed over the issue of slavery in Kansas, and his refusal to stop it set us on the short road to Civil War. Much due to his actions, its no surprise that his successor was not able to prevent Civil War as well. "You have summoned me in my weakness. You must sustain me by your strength."--- Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States.

While on the way to be inaugerated, the train he was traveling on crashed, killing his son. Pierce's wife, who had never wanted her husband to be President, became an even more reluctant 1st lady. Without these events, Pierce might have done a better job as President.

I have to admit im from New Hampshire and I am voting for the home town guy. Sorry.

Okay, this guy just gets no recognition at all. Ask anyone these days who Franklin Pearce is and I bet they will draw a blank. Who is this guy? And what did he do? Apparently nothing of great importance.

did nothing for our Country. Thank God for Lincoln

No Bronson.

Pierce really did not do a whole lot during a period of time in our history that the nation was falling apart. If he really did not want to be president like the history books say, then he should have allowed others that would have dealt with the tension between the South and North in a more aggressive fashion. The reason why a Civil War had to happen was because there was ineffective leadership during the 1850's. It was not until a strong leader came along (Lincoln), that the struggle was resolved, although by his time, it had to be resolved with a war. It did not have to be if we had effective leadership during the period.