Episode 18 The Presidency That Almost Wasn't

On a cold January day President Elect Franklin Pierce and his family boarded a train in Andover, Massachusetts, two months before he took office. A mile later the train left the track and tumbled down an embankment. The horrible accident nearly ended his presidency before it started, He survived, but the tragedy hobbled his administration for the entire term, destroyed his home life, and probably led to an early death..