Claim profile

Franklin Pierce

President of the United States from 1853 to 1857

  • Fame74.8
  • Momentum0.0
  • Wikipedia73.3K
Source-basedFalling
Lived 1804–1869, aged 65United States
United States flagUnited StatesPoliticiansPolitician
  • Wikipedia
    128 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1804–1869
    Aged 65
Summary
Updated 2026-06-08

The 14th president signed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, torpedoed the Missouri Compromise, and watched the country lurch toward civil war on his watch. Historians routinely rank him among the worst presidents.

Biography

About

Franklin Pierce was born in New Hampshire in 1804, son of Governor Benjamin Pierce, and served in the House and Senate before resigning in 1842 to practice law. After fighting as a brigadier general in the Mexican–American War, he emerged as a compromise candidate at the 1852 Democratic National Convention — a Northern Democrat palatable to Southern interests — and won the presidency easily alongside William R. King. His term unraveled quickly: the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which he signed in 1854, nullified the Missouri Compromise and ignited violent conflict over slavery's expansion westward, cos…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce
said
I never justify, sustain, or in any way or to any extent uphold this cruel, heartless, aimless unnecessary war.
— Letter to Jane Pierce (3 March 1863)
Franklin Pierce
said
The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the Constitution. I shall never doubt it.
— Third Annual Message (31 December 1855), as published in Official History of the United States by the Presidents (1900), Vol. 1, by the
Franklin Pierce
said
You have summoned me in my weakness. You must sustain me by your strength.
— Inaugural Address (4 March 1853)
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Where to find them

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By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Falling
74.8
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical26.6
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
Global rank
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Country rank
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Category rank
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Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence