Franklin Pierce was president at the time the Ostend Manifesto was written and released. He was a northern Democrat, who believed that the abolitionist movement was a threat to the nation. Pierce was also part of the Young America movement, which advocated for free trade and southern expansion.

     Franklin Pierce is often ranked as one of the worst and least memorable presidents by most historians and scholars. One of the greatest contributors to his negative legacy was the Kansas--Nebraska Act (May 1854), which later led to Bleeding Kansas (1855-1856). The Kansas--Nebraska Act repealed the ban on slavery in Kansas, which led to violent border wars. These severely tainted his administration's reputation, and his own reputation as president. His administration was damaged even more when his diplomats to Spain, Great Britain, and France drafted the Ostend Manifesto. This document is widely considered the second biggest mistake of the Pierce administration. He lost the support of northerners, and his own political party even abandoned him. When he left office, the country was moving closer to a civil war.