Future President Franklin Pierce Writes Sitting President James K. Polk
He and four other notables seek an appointment for a fellow New Hampshireman.
It was commonplace before the civil service in 1883 for political notables from a state to try and secure Federal appointments for its citizens, and this applied to both civil and military positions. Here five prominent New Hampshire politicians go right to the top – they petition directly to the President.
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It was commonplace before the civil service in 1883 for political notables from a state to try and secure Federal appointments for its citizens, and this applied to both civil and military positions. Here five prominent New Hampshire politicians go right to the top – they petition directly to the President.
Autograph Letter Signed of New Hampshire U.S. Senator Charles G. Atherton, also signed by New Hampshire Congressmen Charles H. Peaslee and James H. Johnson, Supreme Court Justice and former Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury, and former Senator, general and future President Franklin Pierce, Washington, January 14, 1848, to James K. Polk, President of the United States. “The undersigned beg leave respectively to recommend Charles C.P. Parker of Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the office of assistant purser in the Navy. They have entire confidence that Mr. Parker, from his character and capacity, and especially from his past opportunities of becoming acquainted with its duties, is particularly suited for the office.” This is one of two scarce letters of one president to another in this catalog.
This letter shows that though Pierce was then holding no office, he was considered powerful enough to co-sign a letter with a Justice and the state’s highest representatives in Washington. Today it would be considered inappropriate for a sitting Supreme Court Justice to intervene for a job-seeker. And since the Civil Service was instituted, there are fewer discretionary appointments for a president to make.
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