- Franklin Pierce was the first President to have a Christmas tree in the White House.
- Franklin Pierce is the only President to have said "I promise" instead of "I swear" at his Inauguration.
- Pierce died of cirrhosis of the liver as a result of years of heavy drinking.
- Pierce was arrested while in office for running over an old woman with his horse, but his case was dropped due to insufficient evidence in 1853.
One of the Democratic party's slogans during Pierce's campaign for president was: "We
Polked you in 1844; we shall Pierce you in 1852."
Pierce installed the first central-heating system in the White House.
Pierce always insisted that grace be said before a meal.
- During his second year at Bowdoin College in Maine, Pierce had the lowest grades out of anyone in his class. He changed his study habits, and graduated third in his class. Among his class mates were Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Pierce was wounded during the Mexican War.
- Pierce was an avid fisherman.
- He defeated his old commanding officer from the Mexican War, Winfield Scott, when he was elected president.
- Pierce was the first president born in the 19th century.