Franklin Pierce (147)
He was the 14th President of the US, but is ranked by historians as one of the worst ever to serve the country. His Fugitive Slave Act failed to stem intersectional conflict, setting the stage for Southern secession, and eventually, the American Civil War. He also led a failed attempt to acquire Cuba from Spain. He had a successful private law practice in his home state. He had a sad family life…his wife suffered from illnesses and depression much of her life. All their children died young, their last son gruesomely killed in a train accident before Pierce’s inauguration. Probably the reason why he was a heavy drinker. He eventually died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1869. He is memorialized with several schools named in his honor, most prominent would be the The Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire.
