Franklin Pierce
1804 – 1869 American 14th President of the United States
Fourteenth U.S. president whose term deepened sectional conflict.
- Religion
- Episcopalian
- Affiliations
- Democratic Party; not a Freemason.
Pierce signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which reopened the question of slavery in the territories and led to violent conflict. He backed the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico. His pro-Southern policies cost him renomination.