Scott and Pierce

The Library of Congress has a fairly sizable digital collection related to Franklin Pierce. One piece I hadn't seen before is this cartoon of presidential candidates Winfield Scott and Franklin Pierce in 1852.

The LOC description of the lithograph is as follows:

The artist anticipates a Whig victory in the 1852 presidential contest. The scene takes place in an interior, carpeted or tiled with a grid-and-star pattern. At left, Whig candidate Winfield Scott, in military uniform, pulls the "Presidential Chair" out from under Democratic nominee Franklin Pierce (also in military dress). Pierce, having fallen to the floor, exclaims, "Look out there! what you bout General? do you want to Knock a fellers brains out?" Scott replies, "Sorry to disappoint you Pierce; but the people wish me to take this chair."

Pierce Briefly Honored, Then Dissed

Col. Paul Hutchinson and Pierce Brigade member Nancy Hartford place a wreath next to the grave of President Franklin Pierce during an annual graveside ceremony at Old North Cemetery in Concord to honor the president, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014. Photo by ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Concord Monitor

The dedicated members of the Pierce Brigade laid a wreath at the grave of Franklin Pierce on his birthday on November 25, 2014, as detailed in an article in the Concord Monitor.

Alas, by the time Presidents' Day 2015 rolled around, reverence for the 14th President was replaced in the news by the annual rankings, which always place Handsome Frank among the worst leaders of the U.S. This is nothing new--witness a 1997 article by Arthur Schlesinger.