President-elect Pierce is scheduled to take the oath of office in two months. He is forty-eight and has been married eighteen years. Franklin and Jane are opposites in many ways. She is a deeply religious teetotaler, while he is not as pious and is known to hit the bottle hard. Jane is a Whig and Franklin a Democrat. But both are in agreement about their deep love for Benny. He is the only one of three sons still alive; Franklin Jr. and Frank Robert died from disease at ages three days and four years, respectively. Benny Pierce is intelligent and kind.
