--- product_id: 7035212 title: "Franklin Pierce: The American Presidents Series: The 14th President, 1853-1857" price: "27426CFA" currency: XOF in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.sn/products/7035212-franklin-pierce-the-american-presidents-series-the-14th-president-1853 store_origin: SN region: Senegal --- # Franklin Pierce: The American Presidents Series: The 14th President, 1853-1857 **Price:** 27426CFA **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Franklin Pierce: The American Presidents Series: The 14th President, 1853-1857 - **How much does it cost?** 27426CFA with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.sn](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/7035212-franklin-pierce-the-american-presidents-series-the-14th-president-1853) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description The genial but troubled New Englander whose single-minded partisan loyalties inflamed the nation's simmering battle over slavery Charming and handsome, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire was drafted to break the deadlock of the 1852 Democratic convention. Though he seized the White House in a landslide against the imploding Whig Party, he proved a dismal failure in office. Michael F. Holt, a leading historian of nineteenth-century partisan politics, argues that in the wake of the Whig collapse, Pierce was consumed by an obsessive drive to unify his splintering party rather than the roiling country. He soon began to overreach. Word leaked that Pierce wanted Spain to sell the slave-owning island of Cuba to the United States, rousing sectional divisions. Then he supported repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which limited the expansion of slavery in the west. Violence broke out, and "Bleeding Kansas" spurred the formation of the Republican Party. By the end of his term, Pierce's beloved party had ruptured, and he lost the nomination to James Buchanan. In this incisive account, Holt shows how a flawed leader, so dedicated to his party and ill-suited for the presidency, hastened the approach of the Civil War. Review: Short but Good Biography - This is like a drive thru biography, short,quick but at the same time satisfying. This is part of the President series that came out over the fist decade of the 21st century. All are short and concise and this is very much that way. Michael Holt is the author and his focus is mainly on Pierce's time in office. he does go over Pierce's younger days and what made him what he became. He had a quick rise in New Hampshire politics and was a compromise candidate fro the Democrats in 1852. With the Whig party is disarray he won an easy victory in 1852. Holt does an excellent job of explaining why his Presidency was a failure. Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act that brought the Civil War a little closer and his support of pro slavery in Kansas doomed his time in office. This split apart the Democrats which made a path for the new Republican party to make serious in roads into American politics. It's just too bad this book had to be so short. I'm sure much more background could have been explored with the issues of that time. But in this series conciseness is what the publishers had in mind. It's very hard to find good digital books with good detail on these more obscure Presidents of the 19th century. Maybe someday all book on President like this, such as Wallner's comprehensive biography of Pierce, will be made available in a digital format. Review: An Okay Biography - Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, is certainly is one of the most obscure presidents in American history and considered rather inconsequential to historians. This book is a rather brief overview of Pierce's life and times he dealt with. We start out with his younger life growing up in New Hampshire and studying law. He finds an interest in politics and gets elected to the New Hampshire State legislature. After serving there, he is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and then goes to the U.S. Senate. After Democrats ended up as a minority in the Senate, Pierce resigned. During his period away from politics, he enlisted in the Army and served an almost comical stint during the Mexican-American War. He returned to the U.S. after the war ended without serving with much distinction. When the Democrats looked for a candidate for the 1852 presidential election, they eventually turned to Pierce with his charming and kind personality. He won losing only four states. Tragedy would strike Pierce when he and his wife watched their only surviving son killed in a train accident months before being sworn-in. The book looks at major events of the Pierce Administration. One of his successes was the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico, giving the contiguous United States its current borders. But Pierce is more often noted for his failures. He seemed more interested in avoiding a split in the Democratic Party, although he ending up fumbling on patronage assignments. And then there was his most famous blunder, the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Pierce took the wrong side in the violence in Kansas that occurred at the time. The book attempts to explain why Pierce went along with such a flawed piece of legislation. By the end of his presidency, Northern Democrats no longer wanted him. He would not even be nominated for a second term, instead being replaced by James Buchanan. Pierce did some traveling after leaving office and eventually returned to New Hampshire. He became a heavy drinker which no doubt contributed to his death. The book does a decent job describing Pierce's life and presidency. It is really brief, though. Considering the length of the book, I was disappointed with how often the author goes delving into detail about events not directly related to Pierce. Yes, Pierce is hardly the most interesting president, but I still do not see why there seems to be padding in a book so short. In conclusion, this book is an okay look at the 14th president, even though this is not a very exhaustive biography. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #128,727 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #175 in US Presidents | | Customer Reviews | 3.8 out of 5 stars 521 Reviews | ## Images ![Franklin Pierce: The American Presidents Series: The 14th President, 1853-1857 - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/719ZoMr1kBL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Short but Good Biography *by K***R on August 8, 2019* This is like a drive thru biography, short,quick but at the same time satisfying. This is part of the President series that came out over the fist decade of the 21st century. All are short and concise and this is very much that way. Michael Holt is the author and his focus is mainly on Pierce's time in office. he does go over Pierce's younger days and what made him what he became. He had a quick rise in New Hampshire politics and was a compromise candidate fro the Democrats in 1852. With the Whig party is disarray he won an easy victory in 1852. Holt does an excellent job of explaining why his Presidency was a failure. Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act that brought the Civil War a little closer and his support of pro slavery in Kansas doomed his time in office. This split apart the Democrats which made a path for the new Republican party to make serious in roads into American politics. It's just too bad this book had to be so short. I'm sure much more background could have been explored with the issues of that time. But in this series conciseness is what the publishers had in mind. It's very hard to find good digital books with good detail on these more obscure Presidents of the 19th century. Maybe someday all book on President like this, such as Wallner's comprehensive biography of Pierce, will be made available in a digital format. ### ⭐⭐⭐ An Okay Biography *by F***K on May 30, 2011* Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, is certainly is one of the most obscure presidents in American history and considered rather inconsequential to historians. This book is a rather brief overview of Pierce's life and times he dealt with. We start out with his younger life growing up in New Hampshire and studying law. He finds an interest in politics and gets elected to the New Hampshire State legislature. After serving there, he is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and then goes to the U.S. Senate. After Democrats ended up as a minority in the Senate, Pierce resigned. During his period away from politics, he enlisted in the Army and served an almost comical stint during the Mexican-American War. He returned to the U.S. after the war ended without serving with much distinction. When the Democrats looked for a candidate for the 1852 presidential election, they eventually turned to Pierce with his charming and kind personality. He won losing only four states. Tragedy would strike Pierce when he and his wife watched their only surviving son killed in a train accident months before being sworn-in. The book looks at major events of the Pierce Administration. One of his successes was the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico, giving the contiguous United States its current borders. But Pierce is more often noted for his failures. He seemed more interested in avoiding a split in the Democratic Party, although he ending up fumbling on patronage assignments. And then there was his most famous blunder, the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Pierce took the wrong side in the violence in Kansas that occurred at the time. The book attempts to explain why Pierce went along with such a flawed piece of legislation. By the end of his presidency, Northern Democrats no longer wanted him. He would not even be nominated for a second term, instead being replaced by James Buchanan. Pierce did some traveling after leaving office and eventually returned to New Hampshire. He became a heavy drinker which no doubt contributed to his death. The book does a decent job describing Pierce's life and presidency. It is really brief, though. Considering the length of the book, I was disappointed with how often the author goes delving into detail about events not directly related to Pierce. Yes, Pierce is hardly the most interesting president, but I still do not see why there seems to be padding in a book so short. In conclusion, this book is an okay look at the 14th president, even though this is not a very exhaustive biography. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Does Exactly What It Intends *by C***S on November 16, 2011* I have read a handful of the books from this American Presidents Series, and three of the four have been exactly what I was looking for -- a clear, concise biography that covers the major aspects of the subject's life, particularly his presidency. None is better than this one, though. While I've read a fair amount about the antebellum period in general, I didn't know much about Franklin Pierce, other than that he signed into law the Kansas-Nebraska Act and that he's widely considered to be one of the worst presidents we've ever had. But I was interested to find out that along with his negative qualities -- a destructive loyalty to the Democratic Party being the most significant, according to Holt -- he was also a superb public speaker, a loyal and extremely well-liked individual, and a prominent and influential Democrat in one of the rare northern states that consistently voted Democrat. This book provides a broad overview of Pierce's early life and career, three strong chapters on his presidency, and a wrap-up chapter on his retirement, which, to my surprise, included several attempts by some Democrats to convince him to run for president again, even though he was very unpopular at the close of his term and wasn't even renominated by his party. When I was done reading, I retained my disapproval of Pierce's endorsement of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and his unwillingness to take a stand against slavery or the South's determination to compile slave states. However, I felt that Pierce was a likable person; he made some costly miscalculations, but he was inherently a decent and honest man. If there is a criticism of this book -- and the fact that it's too short is an unfair criticism since that's what was intended -- it's that Holt spends large chunks providing historical context in place of more details about Pierce himself, but I'd quickly counter that the context was necessary, in such a turbulent time, to explain what Pierce was dealing with. This book is a great addition to the series. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.sn/products/7035212-franklin-pierce-the-american-presidents-series-the-14th-president-1853](https://www.desertcart.sn/products/7035212-franklin-pierce-the-american-presidents-series-the-14th-president-1853) --- *Product available on Desertcart Senegal* *Store origin: SN* *Last updated: 2026-09-15*