On October 8, 1869, Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States, died in Concord, New Hampshire. He had served from 1853 to 1857, during a period of rising tension over slavery and territorial expansion. His support for the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act damaged his popularity in the North. After leaving office, Pierce withdrew from national politics and lived mostly in New England. His death drew attention to a presidency often judged as weak in the face of sectional conflict. Historians continue to debate his role in the events that led toward the Civil War.
