Franklin Who?

Friday is the 197th birthday of Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States. The annual wreath laying ceremony at the cemetery on North State Street in Concord was held today to accommodate a 5th grade class from the Walker School. As NHPR�s Dan Gorenstein reports, the only president to come from the Granite State, is sometimes admired, sometimes loathed, but mostly forgotten.

Every year the Whitehouse calls a local florist and puts in an order for President Pierces� gravesite. Red, white and blue flowers adorn the wreath that rests on a stand stuck into the ground in front of the smallish obilisqe with wings off to either side. This morning, around 9:30 a Walker 5th grade class joined a smallish group to pay their respects.

One of those in attendance was Jyme Simoes, the head of a group trying to coordinate events in 2004, the bicentennial of President Pierces� birth. Since 1993, Simoes has talked with many people around the country about the 14th president�s legacy. Today, he narrates the story of how Franklin Pierce is remembered 197 years after he was born.

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2:15 there are three school in how he is remembered: the first school is remembered with a great deal of negative feeling. He made some significant errors in judgement in his presidency that were important b/c they led to the inevitable Civil War.

The Franklin Pierce Law Center�s Marcus Hearn.

1:43 oictures in the dean�s office, we have at least one original letter of his, that we have put on display, it�s an embarrassing letter, that said NH would stand with the south. He didn�t have particularly good foresight. There are occasional jokes, we have a little jingle about him.

And Historian James Loewen.

:40 I think President Pierce is the worst president in the history of the US. And basically his policies are what the pro-slavery wing wanted, help lead to bloody Kansas, and that helped lead to the civil war. Others who are considered terrible were inept and corrupt, Pierce was both inept and malicious. He accomplished something and it was mostly negative.

3:04 two amazing ventures were launched. One was the Kansas-Nebraska Act which enables locals to go for slavery even if north of the line of the compromise. This meant slavery was going to be national, and anti-slavery was going to be regional. The other thing was the manifesto. Which was to force Spain to sell us Cuba. It failed, and it became embarrassment. It shows how supportive administravie was of slavery.

6:43 After 1890, the US became more pro-white suprememcy. Lynchings went to their all time high�run race relations, and during this period Pierce starts being remembered more positively. The state puts up the statute�And finally in �62, you folks create college�

On the other hand there are people who are very fond of Pierce, who look at his very tragic life, his incredible and rapid rise to power and his just as incredibly quick decline from power as being compelling and they want to learn more about Pierce the man.

Chips Holden is the president of Pierce Brigade, the group responsible for saving the President�s home.

13:44 he had a rough life to hoe, a wonderful lawyer, we have loads of stories, b/c he was terrific. His home life was not pleasant. He had three children, all of them died, his wife was very ill, and he was a good and faithful husband. But it must have been hard to cope with those problems�16:30 I like the house, and I like the fact that so many people say when they come here, �this is the kind of place I could live.� And the history of the family captivated me. The way they lived�he fought with Washington at Valley Forge, just think of that. It�s so interesting�18:08 I think he is the kind of person I would have liked to have known. I think he would be a good friend. I think he would be someone you would want to come to your house to dinner. And the conversation would always be good. I would want him for a friend b/c he was extremely loyal friend�if you were his friend, he was your friend for life�he was a very warm loving person�Most handsome president we ever had in history, they say.

And Vice-President of the group Ethel Wilson

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:15 I have a wonderful feeling. Isn�t this wonderful, I am walking where he walked. I am touching this rail, where his hand was there. It was part of history. It does something to you. You get inspired you want to take care, you want to share it with people.

And then there is a vast majority of people who don�t know about him, who he was, what he did, or when he was President.,

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and those are the people we really want to reach out to. With the Bicentenial, we are not trying to rehabilitate Pierce, trying to condemn Pierce, we are just trying to reexamine that period of NH. Why things happened, and why things are they way they are today. B/c that is what history is all about, it�s getting perspective.