i had never heard of franklin pierce university before a couple days ago. they are in the news for releasing the results of the first poll (survey of voters) of any type that doesn’t have hillary clinton as the leader to be the democratic candidate for president in 2016.
the franklin pierce university/boston herald poll has vermont senator bernie sanders leading hillary 44% to 37%.
vermont & new hampshire are neighbors, this probably helped vermont senator bernie sanders’ poll numbers in new hampshire. (discover new england)
republican and democrat (the two principal political parties in the u.s.) candidates must participate in a long process of mini-elections that take place on a state by state basis. the small state of new hampshire is important because they are the second state to hold their preliminary election, known officially as a primary election, or just a primary.
franklin pierce university is located in rindge, new hampshire.
fun english practice 
richyrocks english on youtube
but who the hell was franklin pierce?
franklin pierce was a brigadier general in the u.s. army during the mexican-american war.
franklin pierce was the fourteenth president of the united states. he is mostly forgotten as a statesman, and his participation in the mostly forgotten mexican war has also been mostly forgotten.
but while few today have any opinion about or interest in pierce’s brief service in the u.s. army, it was a focus of much national attention during his run for the presidency in 1852.
general winfield scott pointing at the battle of vera cruz. his crotch looks weird. (war & conflict book #: 102)
pierce’s opponent in the election was winfield scott, his commander during the mexican war. scott’s several victories in mexico, including the battles of veracruz, churubusco and chapultepec (the inspiration for mexico’s iconic niños heroes), not to mention his years of previous military experience had made him a national hero.
it looks like she fainted; luckily onto a couch.
scott’s campaign criticized pierce for fainting (losing consciousness) during the battle of churubusco. jonathan zimmerman‘s column in the dallas morning news explained it like this
mocking franklin pierce as the “fainting general,” winfield scott’s campaign spread the rumor that pierce had passed out [during the battle of churubusco]. but pierce’s supporters mocked scott…. a pompous has-been who was well past his prime.
spread means distribute. passed out is similar to faint and is frequently used to describe someone falling asleep or losing consciousness from drinking too much.
general scott’s crotch was cropped out of this photo.
despite scott’s superior military record, franklin pierce won the election easily and served one term (four years) as president. about a hundred years later, forgotten by nearly everyone other than historians and new hampshire residents, his name became the name of a university.
have u ever fainted? what were the circumstances? what do u know about franklin pierce? the mexican american war? share your ideas under leave a reply
