Franklin Pierce, "Handsome Frank," the 14th President of the United States, won no praise for the one term he served in the White House, but he’s a model for those who suffer for the nation.
In President Polk’s war against Mexico, the goal of which was to annex California, Pierce fought as well as he could in his role as a general who led troops into battle.
At the Battle of Contreras, his horse was startled, jamming Pierce's testicles against a hard saddle, then the horse fell, pinning Pierce’s knee and crushing it. The troops watched all this and accused the general of having fainted from cowardice. The next day he re-injured the knee, and he ended up not leading his men in a charge but hobbling far behind them as they went to the fighting.
In the next Battle, at Churubusco, General Pierce ordered himself tied into his saddle; once the shooting started he passed out from pain and rode about in random directions, unconscious. During the famous Battle of Mexico City, where young Grant and Lee performed feats, Pierce spent most of it in the sick tent, laid low by acute diarrhea.
Pierce returned home to a hero’s welcome and was eventually elected President, an ideal candidate at the time because he opposed both slavery and abolition. After one feckless term, he was sent home. Historians rank him among our worst Presidents, and he likely led the saddest Presidential life, outliving his wife and all their children.
No comments:
Post a Comment