Pierce became the first and only elected president who was an active candidate for reelection to be denied his party's nomination for a second term.

James Buchanan had been a candidate for president at the 1852 Democratic National Convention, and after the 1852 election he agreed to serve as Pierce's ambassador to Britain.

[2] Powerful Senators like John Slidell, Jesse Bright, and James A. Bayard lined up behind Buchanan, presenting him as an experienced leader who could appeal to the North and South.

[4] Called to order at noon on Monday, June 2, by the National Committee chair Robert Milligan McLane, Samuel Medary was made the temporary president.

On June 5, the New York problem was finally settled by seating half of each of the competing delegations.

To soften the blow to Pierce, the convention issued a resolution of "unqualified approbation" in praise of his administration.

[5] This loss marked the first (and until 2024, only) time in U.S. history that an elected president who was an active candidate for reelection was not nominated for a second term.

As Vermont's David Allen Smalley stated, "No Democrat has a right to refuse his services when his country calls."