Talk:Franklin Pierce

First President Born in the Nineteenth Century
As standard lists of Presidents of the United States indicate, Franklin Pierce was the first President to have been born in the 19th century. While one person has questioned whether this "notable," it is factual, and I think it is proper to include the information. The article on Dwight Eisenhower notes that he was the last President to have been born in the 19th century, and the article on John F. Kennedy states that he was the first President born in the 20th century. If it is proper to include such information for Eisenhower and Kennedy, it is proper to include it in this article.John Paul Parks (talk) 06:14, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
 * This is a FA, the others aren't. It passed the FA process without it, and was still deemed comprehensive. And the relevancy is greater with a more recent century. May I enquire if you added that information to the articles in question?--Wehwalt (talk) 07:56, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Unfortunately, this gets into the matter of a century start being in year __01. Fillmore was born in 1800, and there was no year 0. Carlm0404 (talk) 19:01, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

File:Mathew Brady - Franklin Pierce - alternate crop.jpg to appear as POTD soon
Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Mathew Brady - Franklin Pierce - alternate crop.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on November 23, 2016. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2016-11-23. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. — Chris Woodrich (talk) 04:14, 1 November 2016 (UTC)

Franklin Pierce
Why didn't you tell about what document you were sworn upon. I really need to know that because I am doing this paper on presidents and stuff for extra credit and when I looked online all it said about is you birth certificate, Torah, Koran, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence. None of that was helpful because I only need one answer. Now that I started this paper it means that I can't quit now because I want full credit and I don't even know what happens if I don't finish the paper because my teacher didn't tell me. It really would be nice if you would have had that information on there. If it is there then let me know because I might have missed it because I was zooming down real fast to find a topic about that stuff. This paper is due, November 9 and I really want to get it done!! So I can show my teacher I love extra work and extra credit. Please, please, please, please I am begging you to write something on there about that stuff. I really would like that. I will know that your dead if you don't answer back but still if you are not dead please put that stuff up. I will cross my fingers that you are not dead!!! Write back as soon as possible.

Sincerely, Melody Clark! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.32.126.18 (talk) 23:03, 3 November 2016 (UTC)

It's mentioned here. Does that help?--Wehwalt (talk) 00:06, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Vice President
His vice president was William R. King. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.107.142.18 (talk) 17:10, 7 November 2016 (UTC)


 * That's correct, but King died on April 18, 1853 -- only 45 days after the beginning of Pierce's presidential term. He was the only U.S. Vice-President never to carry out any of the duties of said office.--Solomonfromfinland (talk) 00:03, 12 January 2017 (UTC)

Middle Initial
I remember as a kid learning this president as "Franklin B. Pierce." I found a book about him on Amazon that refers to him in the title as as "Franklin B. Pierce," so I know I'm not crazy. This edited was reverted, though. --Scottandrewhutchins (talk) 20:32, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry I rolled it back, I should have undid it. But I know of nothing that says he had middle initial/name and presidents are usually pretty well studied.--Wehwalt (talk) 20:44, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
 * The link provided was to a published book that refers to him as "Franklin B. Pierce," though.--Scottandrewhutchins (talk) 13:45, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Fair enough. But most sources don't list him with a middle initial, let alone a middle name.--Wehwalt (talk) 13:56, 24 August 2018 (UTC)

The use of Jane Pierce's first name
Wikipedia policy is to use the last names of women (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_about_women#Use_surnames). In this article, Jane Pierce is almost exclusively referred to by her first name. While I understand that her last name is the same as the subject of the article, in paragraphs where both Pierces are referred to, consider using both their first names.

Tejas Subramaniam (talk) 08:12, 27 November 2018 (UTC)


 * I've done some of that, especially in the earlier parts of the article. Feel free to change anything else that needs it in your view. I understand the reasons for this, but some of the phrasings become a bit awkward.--Wehwalt (talk) 00:55, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

denied re-nomination by his party
Is that the only time this happened? There are several cases where the elected President chose not to seek re-election, although I know that Truman and Lyndon Johnson did so after having started runs for re-nomination. Afterthought: What was Wilson thinking in 1920? Carlm0404 (talk) 19:08, 8 July 2020 (UTC)

File:PIERCE, Franklin-President (BEP engraved portrait).jpg scheduled for POTD
Hello! This is to let editors know that the featured picture File:PIERCE, Franklin-President (BEP engraved portrait).jpg, which is used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for November 23, 2020. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2020-11-23. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:50, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Pierce on the North "attacking" the South
The Wallner quote from a C-SPAN interview doesn't refer to military action, but to social action. Here's the referenced quote: He also thought - and he sincerely believed this - that if the North hadn't attacked the South so much for being for this moral sin of slavery, that the South eventually over time would have ended slavery on its own, that he felt that the Civil War was unnecessary.

That means it was, in Pierce's opinion, the relentless Northern abolitionist agitation against Southern slavery that brought on literal warfare; a social campaign against slavery became a military campaign against secession. The quote is set in a paragraph about Pierce and abolition. Notice the 1835 Pierce quote against it: "One thing must be perfectly apparent to every intelligent man. This abolition movement must be crushed or there is an end to the Union."

In expanding the section, User:Antiok 1pie partially quoted Wallner: "After the Civil War, Pierce believed that if the North hadn't attacked the South, the latter would have eventually ended slavery on its own . . ." Dropping the phrase, "so much for being for this moral sin of slavery," gave the impression that Wallner was talking about military hostilities. So User:Wehwalt tweaked it with "Pierce believed that war had not come," which I assume was a typo for "Pierce believed that had war not come. . ."

I've rewritten the passage with a paraphrase: "Pierce believed that if the North hadn't so aggressively agitated against Southern slavery . . ." YoPienso (talk) 02:11, 5 April 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 April 2023
Franklin Pierce had no full middle name but had a "K" so Franklin K Pierce 35.136.106.82 (talk) 16:31, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Favonian (talk) 16:36, 16 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I would be very surprised if the OP was accurate. Wehwalt (talk) 17:01, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

Re his tragic life.
His Presidency was not 100% about slavery. Perhaps some editing is in order. Cleolion (talk) 23:59, 29 August 2023 (UTC)

Clarification needed
I added to this sentence in the third paragraph under "U.S. Senate": "He challenged a bill that would expand the ranks of the Army's staff officers in Washington without any apparent benefit to line officers at posts in the rest of the country." Did the bill become law? If it did not, then "would expand" should be "would have expanded." If it did, then "would expand" should be ", after it was enacted, expanded." Maurice Magnus (talk) 00:00, 26 January 2024 (UTC)


 * It doesn't seem like much to me so I've removed the sentence and the tag. Wehwalt (talk) 01:31, 26 January 2024 (UTC)