Fessenden & Hyde "Franklin Pierce was no genius," wrote
historian Larry Gara. "Indeed," the biographer of Pierce's
presidency continued, "the ordinary demands of the office were
often beyond his ability. He was a politician of limited
ability, and instead of growing in his job, he was overwhelmed
by it." This was indeed harsh criticism of the fourteenth
president of the United States and a Bowdoin graduate (class of
1824). But it was all true. Franklin Pierce was not a good
president, and his administration was probably responsible for
bringing the nation closer to civil war. Elected as a Democrat
who supported the extension of slavery in 1852, Pierce tried to
distract the nation from its internal problems by dreaming of
expansion into Cuba, Canada, Nicaragua, and even Formosa
(currently known as Taiwan). Internally the nation was a mess.
New lands that had been acquired from the Mexican War were in
need of organization, and the Fugitive Slave Law had been
strengthened by the Compromise of 1850 and led to the