The Expatriation of Franklin Pierce

Considered a failure upon leaving the White House in 1857 and thought to be on his way to a well-deserved obscurity Franklin Pierce during the Civil War emerged as a major spokesman for that era's Peace Democrats opposed to President Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and in defense of civil liberties.<p>A Northerner with many close Southern friends including Jefferson Davis the president of the Confederacy and his wife Varina Davis Pierce was also thought to be a traitor because of such ties and was at one point nearly arrested for suspected seditious behavior.</p>