Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 – October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States (1853–1857), a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a fundamental threat to the unity of the nation. He alienated anti-slavery groups by supporting and signing the Kansas–Nebraska Act and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act, yet he failed to stem conflict between North and South, setting the stage for Southern secession and the American Civil War. He remained in the militia until 1847, and attained the rank of colonel before becoming a brigadier general in the Army during the Mexican–American War. 'I consider slavery a social and political evil,' Pierce said, 'and most sincerely wish that it had no existence upon the face of the earth.' Still, he wrote in December 1835, 'One thing must be perfectly apparent to every intelligent man. This abolition movement must be crushed or there is an end to the Union.' Harrison died after a month in office, and Vice President John Tyler succeeded him.