(Friday, March 4, 1853, 1:30 p.m. local time) — Former U.S. Senator Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire took the oath of office today as the 14th president of the United States on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol.
Pierce, a Democrat, succeeded President Millard Fillmore, ending a 4-year era of Whig rule at the White House.
Ill with tuberculosis, Vice President-elect William R. King was in Spanish Cuba in an effort to recover in the warmer climate, and was not able to be in Washington to take his oath of office today.
By a Special Act of Congress, the former U.S. Senator from Alabama was allowed to take the oath outside the United States, and was sworn in on March 24, 1853. He is the only vice president to be sworn in while in a foreign country.
The office had been vacant since Fillmore succeeded in the presidency upon the death of President Zachary Taylor on July 9, 1850.
The Democratic ticket of Pierce-King had defeated the Whig ticket of Winfield Scott and William Alexander Graham in the 1852 election by 254-42 votes in the Electoral College.
Pierce affirmed the oath of office rather than swear it, and was also the first president to recite his inaugural address from memory.
Pierce was in no mood to celebrate and canceled his own inaugural ball.
Two months before the inauguration, Pierce and his family were on a trip from Andover, Massachusetts, to Concord, New Hampshire, when their train derailed and overturned. Pierce’s 11-year-old son, Benny, was killed in a gruesome fashion, right before his parents’ eyes – the third young son the Pierces had lost. Pierce’s wife, Jane, did not attend the inauguration.
Pierce’s inauguration also drew the first known protest at such an event. It was organized by unemployed workers, who put on their own counter-parade.
And finally, the weather was lousy. According to the National Weather Service, Pierce awoke to heavy snow. The skies seemed to be brightening by noon, but just as he began his speech, the snow started up again – heavier than ever. Much of the crowd dispersed.
