The home where the 14th president of the United States spent his childhood (off Rte. 31, 603/478-3165, www.nhstateparks.org/franklin.html, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Sat., 1–4 p.m. Sun. late May–early Oct.; 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Sat., 1–4 p.m. Sun. Jul–Aug.; open by appointment Apr.–May and mid–late Oct., $7 adults, $3 children 6–11, free children under 6) is as opulent as any home in Hillsborough in the early 1800s.

Pierce’s father, General Benjamin Pierce, was a hero of the Revolutionary War, and decorated the home with the finest French wallpaper, furniture, and porcelain. Growing up, Pierce was exposed to many famous politicians and intellectuals, including Daniel Webster, the negotiator of the Great Compromise of 1850 that put off the Civil War for a decade by allowing slavery to continue in the South.

Franklin Pierce himself became a war hero in the Mexican War, and he was put forth as a compromise candidate for president in 1852, winning a narrow victory due to his support of the Fugitive Slave Law that mollified Southern voters.

Personal and national tragedy, however, would mar his time in office. On the way to Washington, his son was killed in a train accident, sending Pierce into a downward spiral of grief. At the same time, violence erupted in Kansas between slave owners and Free Soilers who wanted to keep the new state free. Unable to successfully intervene, Pierce was blamed for the conflict, and spent his last few years in office as a pariah.

In retrospect, perhaps, he is merely a scapegoat for a conflict that could only end in blood, but his reputation as one of the country’s most unpopular presidents persists despite every attempt to rehabilitate his image. Some of Pierce’s personal possessions are on display in tours of his boyhood home, arranged to re-create the opulence of the home as it was when he lived there.