Assume the Position 201 with Mr. Wuhl2007

Robert Wuhl:
Oscar Wilde once said, "Anyone can make history, but it takes a great man to write it." And Hawthorne's a pretty great writer. Neglecting the fact that Franklin Pierce is a pro-slavery, raging alcoholic, he paints him as America's savior, a cross between Mother Teresa and James Bond. In August, Howthorne's book comes out, in August, and because of this book, by November, this little-known dark horse candidate carries twenty-seven of the thirty-one states in the country and becomes our 14th President of the United States, based on a true story. And you know what happens? Pierce really sucks. As Shakespeare wrote, "he doth really suck!" How bad was Franklin Pierce? Because of his pro-slavery actions, he did more than any other single individual to hasten the outbreak of the Civil War. How bad was Franklin Pierce? To this day, he remains the only incumbent president in our history not to get his *own party's* nomination for a second term. How does he respond? Pierce later gets drunk, gets on a horse and drives over a woman, becoming the first president with a DUI. But you know the funny thing? We got through it. See, that's the thing about Americans. We're tough, we're resilient; we'll get through it. Which bring me to my next point: [shows a picture of George W. Bush] we'll get through it.