PIERCE, Franklin K.] Manuscript document signed by all six members of the Pierce Cabinet, Washington 3 March 1857. Secretary of State William L. Marcy (“W.L. Marcy”); Treasury Secretary James Guthrie (“James Guthrie”); Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (“Jefferson Davis”); Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin (“J. C. Dobbin”); Interior Secretary Robert McClelland (“R. McClelland”); Postmaster General James Campbell (“James Campbell’); and Attorney General Caleb Cushing (“C. Cushing”). 4 pages, folio, a few small chips along top edge .
PIERCE, Franklin K.] Manuscript document signed by all six members of the Pierce Cabinet, Washington 3 March 1857. Secretary of State William L. Marcy (“W.L. Marcy”); Treasury Secretary James Guthrie (“James Guthrie”); Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (“Jefferson Davis”); Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin (“J. C. Dobbin”); Interior Secretary Robert McClelland (“R. McClelland”); Postmaster General James Campbell (“James Campbell’); and Attorney General Caleb Cushing (“C. Cushing”). 4 pages, folio, a few small chips along top edge . A MOVING TRIBUTE TO THEIR CHIEF ON THE FINAL DAY OF HIS TERM “We are not willing to allow our common relation, as members of your Cabinet, to cease, without communicating the sentiments which the retrospect of intimate and long continued official association has left indelibly impressed on our minds.” They praise Pierce’s “untiring devotion to public service,” his “ardent zeal for the good of the whole country, the purity of purpose, and the scrupulous observance of constitutional principles, which have been manifested by you, at all times, and in all circumstances.” Making oblique reference to the burning sectional crisis, the Cabinet notes how the “collision of interests or convictions” causes the President to become subject to intense political attack. But “we, who have seen you most, and with the fullest opportunities of appreciation, know well how conscienciously you have discharged the high trust devolved upon you; and we confidently believe that as time rolls on, the voice of impartial history will ratify our attestation of the integrity and patriotism of your exercise of the executive power of the United States.” A rare and moving tribute, we can recall no other such testimonial to an outgoing President by his Cabinet. As the text implies, Pierce was leaving office under a cloud of obloquy for his support of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and his abortive plans to gain Cuba as a new frontier for slavery. Their hopes for his vindication never came to be. Two of his successors, both keen students of the Presidency, ranked him among the worst. Teddy Roosevelt said, “He was ever ready to do any work the slavery leaders set him.” Truman thought him “the best looking President the White House ever had—but as President he ranks with Buchanan and Calvin Coolidge.
PIERCE, Franklin K.] Manuscript document signed by all six members of the Pierce Cabinet, Washington 3 March 1857. Secretary of State William L. Marcy (“W.L. Marcy”); Treasury Secretary James Guthrie (“James Guthrie”); Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (“Jefferson Davis”); Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin (“J. C. Dobbin”); Interior Secretary Robert McClelland (“R. McClelland”); Postmaster General James Campbell (“James Campbell’); and Attorney General Caleb Cushing (“C. Cushing”). 4 pages, folio, a few small chips along top edge .
PIERCE, Franklin K.] Manuscript document signed by all six members of the Pierce Cabinet, Washington 3 March 1857. Secretary of State William L. Marcy (“W.L. Marcy”); Treasury Secretary James Guthrie (“James Guthrie”); Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (“Jefferson Davis”); Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin (“J. C. Dobbin”); Interior Secretary Robert McClelland (“R. McClelland”); Postmaster General James Campbell (“James Campbell’); and Attorney General Caleb Cushing (“C. Cushing”). 4 pages, folio, a few small chips along top edge . A MOVING TRIBUTE TO THEIR CHIEF ON THE FINAL DAY OF HIS TERM “We are not willing to allow our common relation, as members of your Cabinet, to cease, without communicating the sentiments which the retrospect of intimate and long continued official association has left indelibly impressed on our minds.” They praise Pierce’s “untiring devotion to public service,” his “ardent zeal for the good of the whole country, the purity of purpose, and the scrupulous observance of constitutional principles, which have been manifested by you, at all times, and in all circumstances.” Making oblique reference to the burning sectional crisis, the Cabinet notes how the “collision of interests or convictions” causes the President to become subject to intense political attack. But “we, who have seen you most, and with the fullest opportunities of appreciation, know well how conscienciously you have discharged the high trust devolved upon you; and we confidently believe that as time rolls on, the voice of impartial history will ratify our attestation of the integrity and patriotism of your exercise of the executive power of the United States.” A rare and moving tribute, we can recall no other such testimonial to an outgoing President by his Cabinet. As the text implies, Pierce was leaving office under a cloud of obloquy for his support of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and his abortive plans to gain Cuba as a new frontier for slavery. Their hopes for his vindication never came to be. Two of his successors, both keen students of the Presidency, ranked him among the worst. Teddy Roosevelt said, “He was ever ready to do any work the slavery leaders set him.” Truman thought him “the best looking President the White House ever had—but as President he ranks with Buchanan and Calvin Coolidge.
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Create an alert![PIERCE, Franklin K] Manuscript document signed by all six m...](http://www.christies.com/lotfinderimages/D59091/pierce_franklin_k_manuscript_document_signed_by_all_six_members_of_the_d5909169g.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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