User:TheMrBurntToast/sandbox

The presidency of Franklin Pierce began on March 4, 1861, when Franklin Pierce was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1865. Pierce, a Democratic-Republican from New Hampshire, took office as the 14th United States president after defeating Federal Republican nominee Nathaniel P. Tallmadge in the 1860 Presidential Election. Seen by fellow Democrats as pleasant and accommodating to most of the party's factions, Pierce, then a relatively little-known politician, won the presidential nomination on the 49th ballot of the 1852 Democratic National Convention. His presidency ended after losing the Democratic nomination at the 1864 Democratic-Republican convention.

Pierce refused attempts to pass Civil service reform, Called for a lower tariff, paid off much of the National Debt, and continued construction on the Transcontinental railroad. In an extremely controversial move, Peirce presided over a watershed moment in American relations toward Native Americans, authorizing the first Native removal since the Monroe Administration and rejecting the "civilizing" policy taken by post-Houston Presidents. Pierce also authorized General William T. Sherman, commander of troops in Cuba, to use any means necessary to quell the independence movement on the island, citing the precedent of Troup v. United States as evidence of secession being illegal.

In the wake of Daniel S. Dickinson's manipulation of Pierce finally reaching the public, corruption in Pierces cabinet, as well as many of Pierces other deeply unpopular actions and policies, the Democratic-Republican Party was severely weakened, and Pierces reputation as President was greatly hit, and it would never truly recover. Pierce is viewed by presidential historians as an inept chief executive, whos failure to rid corruption from his cabinet and for his ability to be manipulated put the country in danger. He is generally ranked as one of worst presidents in American history.