LIFE AFTER THE WHITE HOUSE, PART I: Saddest Ex-President

» Mugwump53 - Saddest Ex-President

As always, you add an interesting note to these posts. Your view of Washington as sad but self-sacrificing in his service to his country is accurate and fascinating. He did indeed wish nothing more than to live on his plantation at Mount Vernon and enjoy life. In the years between the Revolutionary War and his Presidency, he entertained many people, complete agricultural experiments years ahead of their time and still added to the political life of the nation. He also enjoyed his two years of retirement (with the exception of a brief tour of duty as commanding general in preparation for a war with France that never happened) after his Presidency.

But in spite of your astute observation, I would have to call Franklin Pierce our saddest ex-President. He left office disgraced, being the only elected President ever to be denied renomination by his party (even Hoover got renominated on the first ballot in 1932!). His wife died, he began drinking heavily, and his views on the Civil War made him extremely unpopular.

His best friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne, died in an adjoining bedroom while visiting Pierce in New Hampshire. Hawthorne had stated in his will and final instructions, that Pierce should be a pallbearer at his funeral. The other leading writers of the day refused to allow Pierce to participate in any way, and Pierce was forced to watch the funeral from the rear of the church and was not allowed to participate in the graveside ceremonies. In fact, he was complete snubbed, with nobody speaking to him during the entire proceeding.

His own state refused to build a statue of him, even though he was their only President, voting down the appropriation by a considerable margin. They did eventually build one earlier in this century, I believe.

So, all in all, I think Pierce was far more unhappy than Washington.

Thanks for bringing up such an interesting aspect of this article. If anyone else has any views on the subject, or any other for that matter, I would love to hear them.

-- posted by Mugwump53