President franklin pierce's other dark horse.

After the US-Mexico War, Pierce returned to his hometown to engage in legal work. In the 1848 election, the Democratic Party nominated him as the candidate for the governor of New Hampshire, but he politely refused. 1850 1 1 The fifth constitutional convention was held in New Hampshire, and Pierce was elected as the chairman.

1852 before the general election, there was an unfortunate background, that is, the leaders of the party died one after another, which made the two parties lack the necessary political and organizational support. General Zachary Taylor, the 65-year-old president, died under the attack of an official scandal, a Washington heat wave and a doctor's rash. On March 365438, 850, john Caldwell calhoun passed away. His funeral turned into a triumph parade, and his followers erected a stone tablet in front of his grave to ensure their loyalty to his principles. Former President john quincy adams fell ill in the House of Representatives and died after being carried out of the Capitol. Andrew jackson, a representative of a democratic era, died suddenly in his seclusion. In this case, the Whig Party split. Those "cotton" Whigs who supported the interests of slavery and adopted appeasement policies expressed their full support for compromise; Whigs, the "moral" faction opposed to slavery, condemned this compromise.

Although the Democratic Party is relatively consistent, it has also produced a situation of indifference in recommending presidential candidates. At first, there were mainly four people vying for the nomination: one was lewis cass of Michigan, who was nominated for the presidency in 1848 and was supported by northerners in the compromise of 1850; The other is james buchanan, Pennsylvania, who is very popular in the South and his home state. The other is Steven Douglas of Illinois, who is an expansionist and a representative of railway interests; The other is William learned Marcy of New York, whose power is concentrated in his hometown state. In the first round of 19 voting, cass took the lead, Buchanan was second, Douglas and Marcy exchanged third and fourth places. Buchanan took the lead in the 20th round of voting and maintained this position in the following nine rounds of voting. In the 30th round and 3 1 vote, Douglas led by a narrow majority. In the 44th round of voting, Cass regained the lead. In the next four rounds of voting, Marcy won the first place. Until the 35th round of voting, none of the four nominated presidential candidates got a two-thirds majority, and Pierce's name was not on the list at all. Considering the scattered voting, the Virginia delegation put forward Pierce as a compromise candidate in the 35th round of voting. This unexpected move made Pierce the second "dark horse" president in American history. Pierce once refused to go to Washington to be an official because of his wife's personality. Now, seeing that he may be on the White House throne, he immediately organized a team and actively participated in the election.

Pierce, like james knox polk, is an unexpected candidate. In the 49th round of voting, he obtained a 2/3 majority and was confirmed as the Democratic presidential candidate with 1852 votes. William r king of Alabama was nominated as vice president. The Democratic Party's campaign platform supports the compromise plan of 1850, including the controversial slave escape law. Pierce's sickly wife hates living in Washington. She suddenly fainted when she heard that her husband had been nominated. Pierce lied to her that he didn't want to be president at all, and he might not be elected in the end. Pierce's youngest son Benny said to his mother, "I don't want my father to be elected president because I know my mother doesn't like staying in Washington." In Pierce's hometown of New Hampshire, a man was surprised at the choice of the Baltimore meeting: "franklin pierce is going to be elected president! I admit that Franklin is good and I wish him all the best. There is no doubt that he is a good lawyer in our state; No one will deny that he is the highest judge, and no one will comment on his election as a member of parliament; But his skills are used throughout the Federal Republic, and I dare say that franklin pierce will be submerged. "

The Whig Party's National Congress was held in the same city (Baltimore) almost at the same time as the Democratic Party (June 1852). At this time, the Whig Party has been divided into "cotton" faction and "moral" faction in the south and north of party member, so there are serious differences on the nomination of the presidential candidate. There were three people competing for the nomination at the meeting, one was Scott, the candidate against slavery; The other is the current president, Mildred Fillmore, who is supported by representatives from the South. The other is daniel webster, whose hometown, New England, supports him. In the first eight rounds of voting, fillmore and Scott exchanged their leading positions five times, and in the ninth round of voting, the votes of both sides were equal. From the first round of voting 10, Scott maintained a slight lead, and then this advantage gradually expanded, and finally he was nominated in the 53rd round of voting. William A. Graham, then Secretary of Navy and North Carolina, was nominated as the vice presidential candidate. The Whig Party's campaign platform supported the compromise of 1850, including the fugitive slave bill cursed by many ordinary Whigs. This is very similar to the program of the Democratic Party.

Winfield scott, the leader of Whig Party in New Jersey, had a brilliant military career. Although he was captured in the battle of 18 12 for a short time, he was seriously injured in the battle of Guandi Island and was rewarded with outstanding achievements. Later, he was promoted to a difficult general and major general. Participated in the Black Hawk War (1832), the Second Minor War (1835- 1837) and the bloodless Arustock War (1839). In the American war against Mexico, he served as the commander-in-chief of the US military and became a "hero" in the Battle of Veracruz and the occupation of Mexico City. At that time, Brigadier General franklin pierce was his subordinate on the battlefield. Although the general and hero Scott opposed slavery, he unreservedly agreed with the Whig party's campaign platform. This may also be an important reason for his defeat.

1852 the presidential election was fully launched after the national congress of the two parties. Pierce and his political opponent winfield scott both accepted the 1850 compromise bill on slavery. Their supporters avoided talking about major issues and attacked personal details at will. The Democratic Party nominated Pierce as andrew jackson's successor, praising his history as a "militia" in the Mexican War. At the same time, in order to beat Pierce's opponent Scott, they called him "ruby-faced old drunkard". The Whigs deliberately belittled Pierce's military experience and happily published a miniature book for him, entitled "General Pierce's Military Career". They also made a big fuss about Pierce's fainting on the battlefield twice in the Mexican War. Louisville magazine reported: Pierce "just entered the first battle when he fell off his horse and fainted;" At the beginning of the second battle, he fainted again and fell off his horse; On the eve of the third battle, he fell ill and had to stay in bed. In the fourth battle, he was about an hour late and failed to take part in the war. "

There is often some inevitable connection between "unpopularity" and political swindlers. After Pierce was nominated as the presidential candidate, he immediately organized a team and actively participated in the campaign. In order to win the support of southerners, Pierce tried his best to find opportunities for his running mate. He also mobilized celebrities in his own party to join the fight for votes for the Democratic Party. Pierce not only won the support of various factions in the party, but also won the support of some industrial and commercial circles, which used to be a base of Whig forces. As a result, Pierce's approval rating soared. The strategy he adopted was to support "1850 compromise" and "fugitive slave law" in his campaign platform, but he insisted on abolitionism in practice.

At the height of the campaign, the two men competed for voters. In the battle for votes between German-Americans and Irish-Americans, Scott proposed that immigrants can automatically obtain American citizenship as long as they have served in military service for one year; Whig voters also reminded Catholic voters that Scott's daughter had become a nun. Democrats and Pierce are not weak. They used the fear of anti-Catholic Native Americans to accuse Scott of executing Irish Catholic soldiers who deserted during the Mexican War in front of immigrants in an attempt to attack Scott. In this regard, the Whigs immediately organized a counterattack, praising Scott's military achievements on the one hand and accusing Pierce of evading the real battle on the other. Both sides called the other candidate an alcoholic. Like another Jackson, Pierce got the nickname "Little Walnut". Nathaniel hawthorne, Pierce's good friend, wrote a campaign biography that flattered Pierce. The campaign slogan of the Democratic Party is: "We gave you a Polk at 1848. ; We will give you a Pierce at 1852! " In the final stage of the campaign, Pierce had a clear advantage over Scott, but the Whigs were still unwilling to lag behind.

When their interest in Scott's theme variations faded, they stuck to the words of Pierce's supporters. The supporter said that his Democratic candidate once gave a boy a "whole penny" to buy a lollipop. Whigs insisted that anyone would give the boy a nickel. They made up a satirical "lollipop ballad" to promote Pierce's "generosity". Pierce also had an anecdote that he corrected his old father's spelling of the word "but", which made Whigs regard it as a laughing stock and ridicule it. Louisville magazine pretended to be surprised and sarcastically said, "What a great political honor this man can give a penny-worth lollipop to a complete stranger and spell the word' but' from the university at once." According to the study of Boston Atlas, during the Mexican War, Pierce was "ordered" to enter a certain place in order to attract Mexicans through feint ... Although General Pierce made rapid progress in learning spelling textbooks and was able to tell his respected father how to spell "but", he couldn't figure out the difference between "dumb pen" and "collapse", so when he lined up to enter the place designated by his superiors, he fell.

Despite Pierce's ridicule, the voters voted for the "dark horse" by an overwhelming majority. 1 1 The election was announced: Pierce got 1.6 million voter votes, accounting for 51%; Winfield scott won 6.5438+0.386 million voter votes, accounting for 44%. Pierce won and became the 14 th president of the United States. Mrs. Pierce never wanted her husband to go to Washington. When the Democratic National Congress nominated Pierce as the presidential candidate, all relatives and friends were afraid to tell her the news. Sure enough, when she knew about it, she fainted on the spot. More unfortunately, after Pierce was elected, he took his wife and 1 1 year-old son Benjamin home by train from Boston. On the way, the train derailed, Pierce and his wife were slightly injured, and their son died immediately. It was a great blow to the Pierce couple, because they had three children, the first two of whom died when they were very young, and Benjamin was their only child who survived. After Benjamin died, they couldn't have any more sons. To this end, the president's wife almost went mad with pain. She told Pierce it was a warning from God.

Jane didn't go to Pierce's inauguration day, so he looked lonely. There was no inaugural ball after the ceremony, and she didn't attend the big reception in the afternoon. On her first day in office, Jane learned from a cousin that Pierce had actually worked hard for the nomination. Then, she had a feeling of being cheated and fooled, and she was in great pain. Two weeks later, she moved into the White House. Jane's sister-in-law, Abby Kent, means to accompany Jane. She will be the hostess of the White House until Jane's health returns to normal. Jane was in a bad mood until she made up her mind to enter the White House. After living in the White House, she is still immersed in the melancholy that she can't get rid of. She has been wearing plain clothes and has written countless sad letters to her dead son. When chatting with anyone, she always has this sad atmosphere.

1853 On March 4th, Pierce was sworn in as the 4th president of the United States. Although the appearance of this "dark horse" president is not unusual, it is also the most handsome and handsome one. He is 5 feet 10 inch tall, with a typical high nose, gray eyes and thin lips. His most distinctive feature is that his thick curly black hair is combed obliquely to the side of his broad forehead. Cough caused by chronic bronchitis and years of drinking have damaged his health. At that time, he was 48 years old, younger than the previous thirteen presidents. He is eloquent and has an amazing memory. His inaugural speech contained 3,365,438+09 English words, but he didn't read the speech notes from beginning to end. It is said that no one did this when successive American presidents delivered inaugural speeches. Moreover, Pierce's oath of office is different. He said "I solemnly swear", not imitating the appearance of other presidents when they took office, but "I solemnly swear" Pierce is the only president who chose "oath" instead of "oath". In his inaugural speech, he declared the importance of a country's peace and prosperity and maintained good relations with other countries. King, vice president of Pierce, also set a "must". After Kim was elected vice president, he went to Cuba to recuperate because of terminal tuberculosis. Because he was too weak, he did not return to China to attend the inauguration ceremony of the president and vice president, but was sworn in in Cuba. He is the only vice president in the United States who was elected by the whole country but was sworn in on foreign soil. He returned to the United States after his illness, but died without assuming the duties of vice president.

Pierce was very thoughtful when he formed the cabinet. He took care of all the opinions. William Lude Marcy was Secretary of State, James Guthrie was Minister of Finance, Jefferson Hamilton Davis was Minister of War, caleb cushing was Minister of Justice, James Campbell was Minister of Postal Service, James C Dobbin Ren Haijun was Minister, and Robert mcclelland was Minister of Interior. During his four-year term, none of the seven cabinet ministers was replaced or resigned. Everyone started from the beginning to the end. Some people think that he set a good example for American politics in personnel handling. However, the personnel model does not mean the policy model. Pierce's actions at home and abroad were unpopular, so he stepped down after four years in office.