Was Franklin Pierce the Saddest President of the United States?

[@Biographics]

Eric's Links: Free Cosmic Horror Ebook: dl.bookfunnel.com/1cw07o2uyb Storyrant: www.youtube.com/@storyrant

[@oneofmanyintheworld]

BRING BACK SIMON WHISTLER NOW!

[@dxxgx6713]

YOU ARE THE OG NARRATOR AND BESIDES THAT, YOU SKIPPED THE REST OF HIS POST PRESIDENCY?????????????????????????

[@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi]

How about a video on Millard Fillmore our thirteenth president?

[@lilducha]

Sean Munger channel link here or it's fine not to credit people even though your video idea blatantly comes from that channel?

[@notforwantoftrying1]

He lost all three children and his wife, who had grown to hate him by the time she died. I can forgive the guy for needing a drink to cope with that, I can't even imagine what that level of grief does to someone.

[@multiyapples]

Shoot I think that would push all of us to drink.

[@eldridgedavis]

Amen

[@StefanMedici]

I've buried one kid, and that shit changes you. Burying all your kids. Fuck drink I'd be straight to the H (or more likely opium in those days).

[@Pear-zo4em]

PTSD for sure, poor family.

[@DiskoNixon.]

He is one of our worst presidents, but unlike other terrible presidents like Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan who actively did nothing or did things to make things worse, Pierce genuinely tried to do what he believed would help, it is just unfortunate for him that everything he did was just wrong. After he left the presidency, he lived the rest of his life has a hermit and a recluse, quite possibly the saddest legacy of any president.

[@michaelbrown5050]

Facts. Refusing to take an oath over a book of fiction.😮🫡

[@vvvhhhhhbb]

Well said.

[@murrayscott9546]

Well at least he was true - to hissell.

[@hakeemfullerton8645]

He truly is one of the most tragic US Presidents in American History and one of the worst of the 19th century alongside James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson

[@eldridgedavis]

Amen

[@randyragsdale23]

Totally agree

[@michaelgaunya9102]

I love the presidential biographies. As a suggestion, a video on Jimmy Carter in honor of his 100th birthday.

[@thomasNomad8592]

Carter was the worst president in history

[@gerardmcdonough3342]

Carter sucked

[@murrayscott9546]

Thanks to all involved in this presentation. It should remind us all that - no matter how good we think we are - we all are fallible. Rest us - everyone.

[@philipramirez5406]

Honestly, just sounds like he REALLY shouldn't have marry Jane Appleton. She was against every he believed in from the start. The heck was he thinking for EIGHT years while trying to court her.

[@kithu1231]

Maybe she had great b**ty which he couldn't resist

[@chri6393]

She was obviously a smoke show

[@nekolu]

@@chri6393 😼 grip so strong he had to wed her at all costs. Made him feel like a cork wedged in the bottles he loves to drink.

[@gerardmcdonough3342]

She sounded a bit like a looney too even before the tragedies.Definitely could have chose another lady

[@gerardmcdonough3342]

@@chri6393she’s actually described as gaunt and sickly looking…. So yeah don’t know what ole FP was thinking

[@Tarquin21723]

He literally watched his last surviving son get mangled by a Train right before taking office... I don't think anyone would do a good job at anything after that.

[@bkm2797]

Great job Eric, shared this bio at a pace that was not too fast, much more enjoyable that way! Thank you!

[@angelcastro3129]

Great stuff but The Guys name was Pierce as in "Pierce your ears" not Purse as in " Hold my Purse" lol.

[@Fail_Session]

Exactly. I'm from New Hampshire and nobody in their right mind says "Purse". I actually had to scroll back because I didn't believe that nonsense was stated.

[@mikaelfarris4214]

It's how his family pronounced their last name. Dated a girl with the last name McCuiston who pronounced it McChristian. Same kinda thing.

[@scottp.5055]

I thought I was the only one hearing "purse."😂

[@benjaminstorace6699]

IF YOU READ THE DESCRIPTION . . . _you would know why he's pronouncing it that way_

[@Ross205]

@@benjaminstorace6699they are wrong though. They make up pronunciations to sound smarter.

[@chrislittle2366]

Hell yeah thank you eric and Biographics team been wanting this one you guys made my day

[@franklinpierce2106]

I'd like to see you try to prevent a civil war, Eric.

[@mikaelfarris4214]

It's actually true that the Pierce's pronounced their last name 'purse'. I dated a girl with the last name McCuiston, who pronounced it McChristian. Same kinda thing. Pierce would be just outside my top 5. Top 5 worst Presidents: 1. James Buchanan (without question) All he ever wanted was to be President. Tried to tank Polk's presidency as Secretary of State and then allowed the Union secede into two. 2. Warren Harding (ripe with corruption which set the US back considerably). 3. Donald Trump (too much to list or even summarize) 4. Herbert Hoover (policies set the stage for the Great Depression) 5. Joe Biden (single term of do nothing)

[@ThatGUY666666]

A tragic figure to be sure, but that can not excuse his failures as President. If there was any hope of solving slavery without a civil war, he killed it with the Kansas-Nebraska Act. For that, I rank him 4th from the bottom *Edit* One error to note in this video. Pierce did not sign the Fugitive Slave Act. That was Millard Fillmore

[@PlagueDocterBella56]

I rank him at the bottom for ratifying the election results in Kansas despite knowing the pro slavery faction stuffed the ballet boxes.

[@ThatGUY666666]

@@PlagueDocterBella56 That's another reason. Sadly, I still think we have had 3 presidents who were worse.

[@hazmat7949]

@ThatGUY666666 who's you're other 3? Just out of curiosity cause I'd put pierce there too

[@ThatGUY666666]

@@hazmat7949 In third place I have Andrew Johnson primarily because his refusal to insist on protections for the former slaves as the Confederate States were readmitted into the union all but guaranteeing us nearly a century of Jim Crow. My runner up is James Buchanan mostly for his failure to act in light of the succession crisis after Lincoln won the election of 1860 which gave the Confederates time to arm and organize that they never should have had and made the Civil War all the longer and bloodier as a result. Before I discuss my number 1. I feel it would be irresponsible of me if I did not acknowledge my concern about recency bias, my personal hatred of the man, and the fact that he is currently running for President. Disclaimers out of the way, for me the worst President in our history is Donald Trump. The reason I rank him at number 1 boils down to one thing. His refusal to admit that he lost the 2020 election and his subsequent efforts to overturn the election so he could stay in power illegally which culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. If not for this one act, I doubt I would have even put him in my bottom 10, let alone given him the worst spot. But there are simply no words to describe how terrible his actions were following the election were. Woodrow Wilson was a racist authoritarian. Andrew Jackson was a bloody ethnic cleansing populist. Franklin Pierce killed any remaining hope of preventing a civil war. Andrew Johnson helped guarantee nearly a century of Jim Crow. And James Buchanan's failure to act made the Civil War longer and bloodier than it needed to be. But no President in the history of this nation, while in office, did more to commit outright treason against the United States than Donald Trump did following his loss of the 2020 election.

[@PlagueDocterBella56]

@@hazmat7949 Just guessing, I'd assume James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Woodrow Wilson.

[@colinmacv]

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about pierce, is that his biography can be called “the tragic life of a doughface”

[@PlagueDocterBella56]

A fellow watcher of Mr. Beat I see.

[@hakeemfullerton8645]

@@PlagueDocterBella56 Me too

[@nekolu]

Isn’t it “doe-face”?

[@random-J]

Lincoln had it harder than pierce check this.. From a young age Abraham lincoln born to a poor family lost his mother and then sister , then as a young man he lost his fiance which left him in bed depressed but he got himself together, self taught into passing the bar became a lawyer, after getting married he lost his second child , In the white house he again lost another son, lincoln is the mirror image of pierce but a much better and stronger man.

[@eldridgedavis]

Good points

[@Magdalenkaization]

William McKinley lost BOTH his daughters in childhood; his wife Ida was ill and not able to fullfill duties of FLOTUS.

[@LolManI-75]

None of the presidents, excluding Jackson, prior to Lincoln should be on the "Worst Presidents" list. Not even people like Harrison, Pierce, or even Buchanan in my opinion. Really the worst of presidents started with Andrew Johnson, and even then he just mostly shifted around Lincoln's policies & had an ungrateful Congress to deal with. The first truly BAD president with his pure decisions (besides Jackson) was Rutherford Hayes. I'm also gonna justify Pierce; he had a horrible life and led a 50% miserable country. Arguably his only bad decision as president was the Kansas-Nebraska Act (albeit it was a TERRIBLE decision to sign it into law).

[@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi]

I see your point. William Henry Harrison died thirty days after being sworn in. Rutherford Hayes seemed to lead a conventional even boring life before the 1876 disputed election which was anything but boring. I think Andrew Johnson tried to prevent the Reconstruction policy of punishing the south. He feared exactly what happened which was that when the vote was denied to whites after the war they resented that. As soon as they withdrew Northern troops from the south they started the disastrous white supremacy policy that would last until the 1960’s. Johnson with all his faults tried to avoid that. I’m sure he thought African Americans were inferior to whites but he wasn’t alone. Many whites in the north felt the same way. They had different views back then as compared to modern beliefs now. Anyhow your knowledge of presidential history is excellent. We need more people like you.

[@kokitsunetora]

I'm a relative of Pierce. Can confirm alcohol is a problem in my family to this day

[@Pear-zo4em]

They love a drink or two them Pierce's, how are you related? He was my 3rd cousin too.

[@kokitsunetora]

@@Pear-zo4em my grandma on my mom's side. Her name was Frances Pierce

[@Pear-zo4em]

@@kokitsunetora Interesting, they were originally Cornish tin miners. family ended up everywhere.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Thanks For this eric! Love your content ❤❤❤

[@Biographics]

My pleasure!!

[@MARKCARTLIDGE-sm3mz]

Twat​@@Biographics

[@jackjones9460]

Barely any happy moment in his entire life.

[@hakeemfullerton8645]

Suggestions for future biographics videos: Charles Evans Hughes Frances Perkins Sir Roger Moore Rutherford B. Hayes John J. Pershing Henry Clay Jack Dempsey Dolly Madison Robert La Follette Sr George Westinghouse

[@hazmat7949]

Henry clay should be much more known than he is

[@semiretired86]

Hnery A Wallace?

[@LittleJoeTheMoonlightCat]

Franklin K. Pierce, The Only President without an IMDb Page.

[@-RONNIE]

Thank you as always for the video and good information

[@ith3323]

Free Mason hidden hand

[@bradrohr6623]

Not gonna lie this brought me to tears..

[@gushingranny475]

I couldn’t imagine losing your only living child in such a way, and the. Have to maintain yourself as the leader of your nation

[@chrislittle2366]

I know he wasn't a good president but I think he just wanted to be a good husband and father but tragedy kept striking his life but I will say in his life tragedy he at least managed to keep leading the country and didn't under his presidency say like James Buchanan allow a civil war to happen or like warren g harding who basically led the most corrupt presidency in the history of at least the early 20th century

[@phoenixfats1190]

Stephen Douglas could use some analysis. His name pops up regularly in this time period.

[@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi]

I totally agree.

[@phineas117]

a Northerner that sided with the South. Just like Buchanan. commonly referred to as "a doughface". his life was tragic, true. losing children....you don't get over that. and a raging alcoholic, which he was before the children's loss.

[@theconqueringram5295]

Just plain tragic.

[@chrislittle2366]

Winfield Scott would be interesting also george Marshall or jack Pershing

[@StephenLuke]

RIP Franklin Pierce (1804-1869)

[@SiVlog1989]

Pierce had the odds stacked against him to a tragic extent. I think deep down, he knew the Kansas Nebraska Act would stir up trouble, but the mental strain he was under as President, plus the fact that not only did none of his kids see their dad become President, but he and Jane never really got over how their last son, Benny, was killed (the family of the President-Elect, so Pierce, Jane and Benny, were travelling by train to Washington DC when their train crashed and Benny was decapitated in the crash) left him weak when his own party pushed the Bill forwards. There was some good he had as President, for example, passing the Guano Islands Act, which scooped up unclaimed islands in the Pacific to supply Guano, a natural fertiliser comprising Bird mess, to farmers. Unbeknownst to him, one of the islands, Midway Atholl, would prove to be vital just under 100 years later during WW2

[@lindsey7951]

Ill never use the 'purse' pronunciation just because its spelled like the word pierce and makes little sense to pronounce the two differently.

[@Andrew-wt3ji]

Amazing content,informative but please do King George V at some point,the leader of the British Empire during World War 1

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you.

[@baliyae]

Pierce was certainly infamous, *especially* since he helped pave the way to the Civil War.

[@christophervanasse9911]

Had no idea he had 3 sons and none of them survived to adulthood. Beyond tragic.

[@shakeworldwide2031]

Historically, speaking, yes, but even today it is hard to measure depression so no one really knows and the question is ultimately left unanswered, but by vision Americans would say yes

[@murrayscott9546]

A maverick ! I admire this man ! Sight, unseen.

[@eldridgedavis]

Pretty tragic and sad 😢

[@idagrey4072]

Could you do some on some Australians? I suggest, Nancy wake, gough whitlam, jack Lang and Harold Holt.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

A statue of Pierce by Augustus Lukeman, dedicated in 1914, stands on the grounds of the New Hampshire State House.

[@gavinrussell8448]

Why do you call him purse, its strange

[@siege_gaming2427]

Pierce him self pronounced his name that way 0:30

[@Jobe00]

Erik stated it was how Franklin Pierce pronounced his own surname.

[@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi]

Pierce remained loyal to his friend the brilliant novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. I believe he was present when Hawthorne died. I give him credit for that.

[@davidgoldammer348]

He probably was. If not, then top 5 perhaps.

[@donbrunodelamancha1927]

Such a soul draining host.

[@pads-zr9ln]

It's Simon pr nothing I'm afraid

[@ronjoseph4688]

Then start your own channel and let us judge your performance.

[@SinzPet-]

poor poor bastard

[@Herois1900]

Loving Eric more and more everyday but still miss Simon. A mix between Eric and Simon would be perfect! One each 🙄

[@SayanHaqueOfficial]

Wow❤❤

[@FleaRHCP97]

He gains many points from me for refusing to swear in on a bible

[@eldridgedavis]

Ditto

[@garethbrown9191]

Well I have learnt something about him, seems rather tragic.

[@matthewhedrichjr.5445]

One of the worst presidents we had but unlike presidents such as Buchanan, Johnson, McKinley and Wilson, he tried to do his best but he knew what he done was wrong and if he hadn’t been plagued by tragedy, he could have been in the middle of presidents ranking

[@Bossman_donny]

You should do a episode mikhail gorbachev

[@thorodison95]

Every time he says "Purs" I cringe

[@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi]

There is a Franklin Piece College and law school named after him. Both are accredited.

[@girldaddividendinvestor]

Jackson, Johnson, Buchanan could definitely be argued as a big three.

[@murrayscott9546]

Sounds like my kinda man ! Gladly sit down forra beer with him - talk of our woes . Sud I say woes ? I meant ho's.

[@wendychavez5348]

Technically, we have a second President whose party would not sanction his nomination for a second term, though i guess since Biden withdrew his intention to run before being officially rejected he saved himself from that particular snub. One four- year term is consistently not enough to make a difference, and most Presidents screw up about halfway into their second term, so maybe one six-year term would be a better option--too bad i dont know how to promote such legislation!

[@maxstirner242]

So I guess Simon isn’t doing biographics anymore ?

[@SamBroadway]

What's up with calling him purse????

[@vincentlospinuso7232]

Thanks. Do William Henry Harrison next

[@Biographics]

I've recorded so many at this point, I don't remember if we've done him yet...but I'm almost certain we have! It might be waiting to be released.

[@user-kv2vc3is8h]

@@Biographics if you do it, it has to be proportional to how long he was in office. So…. 22 seconds.

[@davidpumpkinsjr.5108]

I suggest this topic: "Edward Stratemeyer - The Father of YA Literature".

[@multiyapples]

I had no idea he endured so much tragedy. I don’t agree with many of his views.

[@RenaErickson-c8d]

Why are pronouncing his name wrong?

[@VisshanVis]

He said at the start of the video this is how he pronounced his own name.

[@jec1ny]

Pierce is third from the bottom on my list of bad presidents (Trump and Buchannan are in a tie for worst). Definitely a tragic case. Historical trivia; Pierce was the only president who had no changes in his cabinet for his entire term. His Secretary of War was Jefferson Davis, who remained a lifelong admirer of Pierce. Not sure where you got the pronunciation from, but I've never heard that and could find no source supporting "purse" as being correct.

[@madeformore4]

There’s far worse presidents than Trump such as Wilson, Pierce, Carter and Dubya. I understand the recency bias though, Id put Dubya and Obama in my bottom 10 but history may vindicate them both soon.

[@jadedcatlady]

Great info, though pronouncing his name as ‘Purse’ is distracting.

[@joehuiras4955]

No wonder he looks like a Tim Burton character

[@Mrgunsngear]

🇺🇸

[@novosapiennothuman7717]

Direct appeal to Fact Boi. Can we change the narrative of states seeking admission, to land being annexed?

[@chrislittle2366]

Nice job larry

[@CrispySunset]

Would that mean he's the first and only Goth President?..... Or Emo President?

[@lindsey7951]

He may have been a bad president who messed up the country but at least he looked good doing it😂

[@elíasflynn]

"It's called pirs"

[@murrayscott9546]

Opposites attract, sometimes. She was called the dirtiest cus inda valley. That's when I had to marry her.

[@user-kv2vc3is8h]

What a horrible wife.

[@cmdrflake]

The namesake of Hawkeye Pierce M*A*S*H fame. Why I don’t know 🤷‍♂️

[@HelenaGoodman-c5j]

Alexander Ports

[@akashashen]

Space cowboy? Ok, I'll give you thumbs up, but that's really for the Bebop...also, I now know B F Pierce of M*A*S*H doesn't know how to pronounce his own name....heh, writers....

[@noizeemama3697]

I respect him for refusing the buybull. It should be thrown out of the ceremony and courts.

[@gensaikawakami341]

Hold up. I been gone for a little while... Where tf is Simon? Come back fact boi!!

[@midwestweirdo666]

Simon has been gone from Top Tenz, Biographics, and Geographics for almost a year now. There was a whole video about the situation posted to Top Tenz. Long story short Simon wasn't the owner, just a hired host. The owner died during the pandemic, can't remember if it was covid or something else, and his daughter took over ownership and more or less dropped the ball on running the channel so Simon chose to resign and focus on his other channels.

[@DanielWebsterWhigParty]

1:44 Franklin Purse?!

[@winverlopez1678]

That's the correct pronunciation. Were you even listening before that?

[@anthonyC214]

Sounds like a great President. I would have voted for him.

[@larsolsen7825]

No that title belongs to Donald Trump

[@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi]

I think Trump would be better than Harris on the economy. Everything is so expensive now.

[@larsolsen7825]

@@MichaelTreadwell-jo9bi The economy is great now.. And the reason why everything is so expensive, is because of the way Trump mishandled the corona epidemic.. Had he acted sooner instead of telling everyone it was a hoax (even tough he contracted it himself) He could have mitigated a lot of the damage it caused.. But it is not only the US who has suffered high prices. The entire world is suffering it now.. And one last thing... The president has no effect on the price on groceries, rent or gas. That is solely because of big cooperations learned that we were willing to pay their high prices, and therefor they had no reason to lower them again, even tough the world returned to "normal"

[@calm1tbh]

Nooooo I really wish Simon did the Franklin Pierce video ughhh ;c

[@EGSBiographies-om1wb]

121st

[@ianlyons7689]

122nd

[@historyadmiral9461]

Pierce may have not been religious, but he was based and honorable. Much better than LBJ, Carter, or Biden

[@hug0420]

Where’s the British guy

[@KeianhhnaieK]

What happened to the bald pseudo intellectual narrator? Haven't been here for quite a while and I certainly don't recognize the bearded flannel guy.

[@JM-wf2to]

" I'm your host cosmic nobody fking cares or watches full videos on biographics anymore ".

[@Christheonetruechris]

Nope. Truman and Trump were both significantly worse

[@Christheonetruechris]

Those are facts not options. Polling can verify this

[@Christheonetruechris]

Same can be said using the value of the US dollar. Unemployment rates. Global military presence. Tax returns for an average income person. Homelessness rates. By literally every standard of measurement trump was significantly worse than this guy when he was our unfortunate president

[@Christheonetruechris]

Ok I take that partially back. The Trump/Hillary election has a better voter turn out than this gentleman. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to win an election. The Republican party hasn't done that since Bush Sr. But hey that's what oligarchs are for!

[@Christheonetruechris]

It is possible for the Republican party to win the popular presidential election. It might help if their candidate wasn't a mentally disabled narcissist with dementia. But while it hasn't been done in 30+ years. It is still possible for a Republican to win the popular vote. It's just very unlikely

[@TheAqualegend]

That is an objectively absurd claim, and only someone drowned in stubborn bias would even try to assert it. The Kansas-Nebraska act and his failure to lead and appoint over that debacle alone is worse than almost any other presidential moment in history, causing unprecedented tension and ultimately deaths. He also failed to lead or really do anything to stop the Democratic party from splitting off into vitriolic factions, failed to consider Northern interest almost entirely (including losing his home state NH's support in every single level of government after dominating it previously lmao), and stopped any real chance of avoiding a civil war due to his lack of leadership and indecisive presidency. Nothing Truman or Trump did in office comes anywhere close to matching the negative affects the Pierce administration did (or didn't do what should have been done), as well as Buchanan directly after.

[@FleaRHCP97]

11:20 error