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Franklin Pierce: The American Presidents Series: The 14th President, 1853-1857 by Michael F. Holt
littletaiko's review
3.0
There really isn't a whole to say regarding this book about one of our lesser known presidents and apparently one of the worst. Pierce seemed to have married the wrong woman for him - at least personality wise. He was quite the fun loving, partying type and she was the quiet, no nonsense type. While his politics were really way off from mine, I admired that he tried to work with all parties by giving out positions to people in political parties other than his own. Granted that may have been one of the main reasons he was also considered a failure. An informative and short book that gives just enough information to get a feel for the man.
readermeginco's review
3.0
Well, as the saying goes, "looks aren't everything." Mr. Pierce was known for being incredibly good looking, completely charming, and yet a lousy President. He was an Antebellum States Rights President. With his every action, he tried to appease the South while simultaneously -desperately- trying to hold his splintering Democratic party together. Sadly, his every action drew the country closer to war. He was convinced that the KS/NE Act would somehow "save" both his country and the party. I found him to be pretty forgettable yet incredibly sympathetic (so many lost children). Most importantly, though, it seems that he was so set in his ideas about states rights and a strict interpretation of the Constitution that he was unable to make decisions necessary for the greater good of protecting the Union.
greatlibraryofalexandra's review
4.0
I'm generally trying to avoid the "American Presidents Series" for my biography project, but audio or hard copies of larger biographies of Pierce were hard to come by, and I doubt I'd be able to get through them in a reasonable time period. This was a well written and succinct synopsis of Pierce's life that was actually quite interesting.
Holt did a great job of hitting all the major points and providing just enough analysis to get the point across. The book kept my interest, and I have two major points to make:
1. There is a bizarre line where Holt refers to Pierce as "by no means proslavery" - but then the rest of the book frequently discusses how firmly Pierce planted himself on the side of southern enslavers. Perhaps Pierce did not own slaves himself, but he clearly had no problem with the institution, and erred on the side of preserving it - and Holt never references any writings that indicate Pierce held a moral problem with the institution. So i wonder by what definition Holt is classifying Pierce (or anyone) as "not proslavery."
1a: addendum to this comment: I balked at a lot of the terminology in this book. Describing abolitionists as "unhinged" or "radical" was weird, and a lot of the prose seemed...unintentionally (I hope) sympathetic to the will of southern slaveholders. Given this, I assumed it was written earlier than 2010.
2. I thought it was impressive/interesting that Holt consistently mentioned Pierce's wife, despite the fact that she was a reclusive woman who was not a well known or well regarded first lady. Coming straight to this book from a book about Fillmore, wherein the biographer seemed to forget Fillmore even had a family, it was refreshing, and highly noticeable coming from a male writer who could have ignored Jane Pierce entirely. That's why this book gets 4 stars from me - and that's heavily biased, but it is what it is. Holt did not, in the words of Abigail Adams, forget the ladies.
***And just a soapbox note here at the end...Pierce is one of those antebellum presidents that is either largely forgotten, or lumped in the bottom tier of presidents as "the worst." From all I can tell so far, these guys are considered "bad" because their actions led to the Civil War. But my growing question is...how can that be the metric? What was the other course of option? As evidenced by the ferocious drive of southerners to spread Slavery into the western territories, they were not going to back down. Slavery was not "dying out" as some histories would like us to believe. It was going to spread. It was not going to end. It seems to me that keeping the Union together was a horrific goal to have if it mean continued subjugation of an entire race of people, condemnation of them to hell on earth. Just my opinion but...I don't think it is right to judge these men by that metric unless you're wearing racism goggles. For the soul of this nation, the Civil War had to happen. Kudos to their bumbling for making it so.
Holt did a great job of hitting all the major points and providing just enough analysis to get the point across. The book kept my interest, and I have two major points to make:
1. There is a bizarre line where Holt refers to Pierce as "by no means proslavery" - but then the rest of the book frequently discusses how firmly Pierce planted himself on the side of southern enslavers. Perhaps Pierce did not own slaves himself, but he clearly had no problem with the institution, and erred on the side of preserving it - and Holt never references any writings that indicate Pierce held a moral problem with the institution. So i wonder by what definition Holt is classifying Pierce (or anyone) as "not proslavery."
1a: addendum to this comment: I balked at a lot of the terminology in this book. Describing abolitionists as "unhinged" or "radical" was weird, and a lot of the prose seemed...unintentionally (I hope) sympathetic to the will of southern slaveholders. Given this, I assumed it was written earlier than 2010.
2. I thought it was impressive/interesting that Holt consistently mentioned Pierce's wife, despite the fact that she was a reclusive woman who was not a well known or well regarded first lady. Coming straight to this book from a book about Fillmore, wherein the biographer seemed to forget Fillmore even had a family, it was refreshing, and highly noticeable coming from a male writer who could have ignored Jane Pierce entirely. That's why this book gets 4 stars from me - and that's heavily biased, but it is what it is. Holt did not, in the words of Abigail Adams, forget the ladies.
***And just a soapbox note here at the end...Pierce is one of those antebellum presidents that is either largely forgotten, or lumped in the bottom tier of presidents as "the worst." From all I can tell so far, these guys are considered "bad" because their actions led to the Civil War. But my growing question is...how can that be the metric? What was the other course of option? As evidenced by the ferocious drive of southerners to spread Slavery into the western territories, they were not going to back down. Slavery was not "dying out" as some histories would like us to believe. It was going to spread. It was not going to end. It seems to me that keeping the Union together was a horrific goal to have if it mean continued subjugation of an entire race of people, condemnation of them to hell on earth. Just my opinion but...I don't think it is right to judge these men by that metric unless you're wearing racism goggles. For the soul of this nation, the Civil War had to happen. Kudos to their bumbling for making it so.
cstuart13's review
2.0
An uninspiring read of an uninspiring president.
Reading the presidential biographies update:
1. George Washington: "Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow
2. John Adams: "John Adams" by David McCullough
3. Thomas Jefferson: "American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson" by Joseph Ellis
4. James Madison: "James Madison: A Life Reconsidered" by Lynne Cheney
5. James Monroe: "The Last Founding Father: James Monroe" by Harlow Unger
6. John Quincy Adams: "John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life" by Paul Nagel
7. Andrew Jackson: "Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times" by H.W. Brands
8: Martin Van Buren: "Martin Van Buren" by Ted Widmer
9. William Henry Harrison: “William Henry Harrison” by Gail Collins
10. John Tyler: "John Tyler" by Gary May
11. James K. Polk: "A Country of Vast Designs" by Robert W. Merry
12. Zachary Taylor: “Zachary Taylor” by John S.D. Eisenhower
13. Millard Fillmore: “Millard Fillmore: Biography of A President” by Robert J. Rayback
14. Franklin Pierce: “Franklin Pierce” by Michael F. Holt
Reading the presidential biographies update:
1. George Washington: "Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow
2. John Adams: "John Adams" by David McCullough
3. Thomas Jefferson: "American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson" by Joseph Ellis
4. James Madison: "James Madison: A Life Reconsidered" by Lynne Cheney
5. James Monroe: "The Last Founding Father: James Monroe" by Harlow Unger
6. John Quincy Adams: "John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life" by Paul Nagel
7. Andrew Jackson: "Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times" by H.W. Brands
8: Martin Van Buren: "Martin Van Buren" by Ted Widmer
9. William Henry Harrison: “William Henry Harrison” by Gail Collins
10. John Tyler: "John Tyler" by Gary May
11. James K. Polk: "A Country of Vast Designs" by Robert W. Merry
12. Zachary Taylor: “Zachary Taylor” by John S.D. Eisenhower
13. Millard Fillmore: “Millard Fillmore: Biography of A President” by Robert J. Rayback
14. Franklin Pierce: “Franklin Pierce” by Michael F. Holt
slcpolitico's review
3.0
Another “meh” book from the American Presidents Series. Way too much time spent on analyzing every vote and ballot in conventions and elections, and not enough spent on the man or his presidency.
alexcribbs's review
4.0
I’ve tried to avoid this series when possible, mainly because the books always seem too short - I get the gist, but I’m left feeling like I didn’t get much more than that. With some of the lesser-known or lesser-celebrated presidents, avoiding this series is difficult. Fortunately, this one was an excellent book. Well-written, unbiased, and inherently interesting.
I recommend this to any presidential biography reader who doesn’t want to dedicate 800+ pages of reading to Wallner’s two-parter.
I recommend this to any presidential biography reader who doesn’t want to dedicate 800+ pages of reading to Wallner’s two-parter.