Chapter 65: The South gets a President it likes in Franklin Pierce.

After 53 ballots, Millard Fillmore loses his bid for the Whig nomination to General Winfield Scott. Meanwhile divided Democrats vote 49 times before rejecting Lewis Cass, Stephen Douglas, James Buchanan, and William Marcy in favor of former New Hampshire Senator and Mexican War officer, Franklin Pierce.

In the general election, Pierce wins handily based on what becomes his reputation as a “Doughface,” born in the North but eager to support every southern wish in order to win a second time.

The Presidential Election of 1852