BRIDGET'S GUIDE TO THE GREAT, NOT-S0-GREAT AND DOWNRIGHT ABOMINABLE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS

14) FRANKLIN PIERCE

President from 1853-57

Weeks after his election, Pierce his wife and 11 year-old son were traveling from Boston by train. The train came off the rails and crashed down an embankment, killing young Benjamin Pierce. The President and First Lady were severely depressed during their time in the White House.

Pierce was the youngest man, at that point, to be elected President.

He was an alcoholic, mocked by the opposing Whig Party as the `Hero of many a well-fought bottle'.

Another pro-slavery guy, Pierce supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, giving these states the freedom to determine the fate of slavery in their territories, ushring in unchecked violence, riots and bloodshed.

He was also the first and only sitting President not to be nominated by his party for a second term