Franklin Pierce: Encyclopedia II - Franklin Pierce - Political career

Franklin Pierce - Political career

Pierce began his political career in 1828, when he was elected to the lower house of the New Hampshire General Court, the New Hampshire House of Representatives. He served in the House from 1829 to 1833, and as Speaker from 1832 to 1833. Pierce was elected as a Democrat to the 23rd and 24th Congresses(March 4, 1833–March 4, 1837). He was only 27 years old, the youngest representative at the time.

He was elected by the New Hampshire General Court as a Democrat to the United States Senate, serving from March 4, 1837, to February 28, 1842, when he resigned. He was chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Pensions during the 26th Congress.

After his service in the Senate, Pierce resumed the practice of law in Concord with his partner Asa Fowler. He was district attorney for New Hampshire, and declined the appointment as Attorney General of the United States tendered by President James Polk.

On November 19, 1834, Pierce married Jane Means Appleton, the daughter of a former president of Bowdoin College. Appleton, who was born in 1806 and died in 1863, was Pierce's opposite. She came from a aristocratic Whig family, and was extremely shy, deeply religious, often ill, and pro-temperance. Mrs. Pierce hated life in Washington, D.C., and encouraged Pierce to resign his Senate seat and return to New Hampshire, which he did in 1841. They had three children. Two died in childhood—Franklin Pierce, Jr. (1836) in infancy and Frank Robert Pierce (1839–1843) at the age of four from epidemic typhus. Benjamin "Bennie" Pierce (1841–1853) died in a tragic railway accident at the age of 12. The accident occured as the Pierce's were on their way to the inaguration.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Political career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki