Statue of Franklin Pierce

Concord, New Hampshire

Franklin Pierce, America's 14th President, a Yankee who sympathized with the South and defended slavery as Constitutional, was unloved by many politicians in his home state. It was decades after his death before New Hampshire erected a statue of its only Chief Executive. Sculpted in bronze by Augustus Lukeman, unveiled on November 25, 1914 (a couple of days after what would have been Pierce's 110th birthday), it depicts Pierce wearing a large bow tie and an even larger cape. Inscriptions on its base -- made of Concord granite -- praise his ability as a lawyer and soldier, but tactfully omit any details of Pierce's political views or presidency, which is regarded as one of the worst of all time.