Martin Van Buren

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Martin Van Buren
Imperial Print of Martin Van Buren, made in 1855 by Matthew Brady
8th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1837 –  March 4, 1841
Vice President	Richard Mentor Johnson
Preceded by	Andrew Jackson
Succeeded by	William Henry Harrison
8th Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1833 –  March 4, 1837
President	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	John C. Calhoun
Succeeded by	Richard Mentor Johnson
10th United States Secretary of State
In office March 28, 1829 –  May 23, 1831
President	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	Henry Clay
Succeeded by	Edward Livingston
Incumbent
Assumed office  November 7, 1848
9th Governor of New York
In office January 1, 1829 –  March 5, 1829
Lieutenant	Enos T. Throop
Preceded by	Nathaniel Pitcher
Succeeded by	Enos T. Throop
United States Senator from New York
In office March 4, 1821 –  December 20, 1828
Preceded by	Nathan Sanford
Succeeded by	Charles E. Dudley
Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary
In office 1823 – 1828
Preceded by	William Smith
Succeeded by	John Macpherson Berrien
Born	December 5, 1782(1782-12-05) Kinderhook, New York
Died	July 24, 1862 (aged 79) Kinderhook, New York
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic-Republican, Democratic, and Free Soil
Spouse	Hannah Hoes Van Buren (1807-1819)
Children	Abraham Van Buren John Van Buren Martin Van Buren (1812–55) Smith Thompson Van Buren
Alma mater	Kinderhook Academy
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	Dutch Reformed
Signature

Martin Van Buren ( December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency, he served as the eighth Vice President (1833-1837) and the 10th Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. He was a key organizer of the Democratic Party, a dominant figure in the Second Party System, and the first president who was not of British (i.e. English, Irish, Welsh or Scottish) descent. He was the first president to be born an American citizen (his predecessors were born before the revolution); he is also the only president not to have spoken English as a first language, having grown up speaking Dutch.

Mr. Van Buren was the third president to serve only one term, after John Adams and his son. He also was one of the central figures in developing modern political organizations. As Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and then Vice President, he was a key figure in building the organizational structure for Jacksonian democracy, particularly in New York State. However, as a President, his administration was largely characterized by the economic hardship of his time, the Panic of 1837. Between the bloodless Aroostook War and the Caroline Affair, relations with Britain and its colonies in Canada also proved to be strained. Whether or not these are directly his fault, Mr. Van Buren was voted out of office after four years, with a close popular vote but a rout in the electoral vote. In 1848 he ran for president on a third party ticket, the Free Soil Party.

Other than Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren is the only person to serve as Secretary of State, Vice-President, and President.

Biography

Martin Van Buren was born in the village of Kinderhook, New York, approximately 25 miles south of Albany, the state capital, as the third of five children. He was the first president born in the United States, as all previous ones were born before the American Revolution. His great-great-great-great-grandfather Cornelis had come to the New World in 1631 from the Netherlands. His father was Abraham Van Buren ( February 17, 1737– April 8, 1817), a farmer and popular tavern-master. His mother was Maria Hoes Van Allen ( February 27, 1743– February 16, 1817), a widow who had three sons from a previous relationship.

Presidential Dollar of Martin Van Buren

Mr. Van Buren was educated at common schools and at Kinderhook Academy. In 1796, he began the study of law, completing his preparation in 1802 in New York City, where he studied under William Peter van Ness. In 1803, he was admitted to the bar and continued an active and successful practice for 25 years.

On February 21, 1807, he married Hannah Hoes, a maternal cousin. Hannah died in 1819, before her husband became President (and, therefore, never became First Lady).

Mr. Van Buren had been active in politics from at least the age of 17 when he attended a party convention in Troy, New York where he worked to secure the Congressional nomination for John Van Ness. However, once established in his practice, he became wealthy enough to increase his focus on politics. He was an early supporter of Aaron Burr. He allied himself with the Clintonian faction of the Democratic-Republican Party, and was surrogate of Columbia County from 1808 until 1813, when he was removed. In 1812, he became a member of the New York State Senate. In 1817, Martin Van Buren created the first political machine encompassing all of New York, the Bucktails, whose leaders later became known as the Albany Regency, and he was the prime architect of the first nationwide political party: the Jacksonian Democrats. In Mr. Van Buren's own words: "Without strong national political organizations, there would be nothing to moderate the prejudices between free and slaveholding states"("Martin Van Buren" 103-114).

Early political career

New York State Politics

As a member of the state Senate, he supported the War of 1812 and drew up a classification act for the enrollment of volunteers. He broke with DeWitt Clinton in 1813 and tried to find a way to oppose Clinton's plan for the Erie Canal in 1817. Van Buren supported a bill that raised money for the canal through state bonds, and the bill quickly passed through the legislature with the help of his Tammany Hall compatriots.

Mr. Van Buren's attitude towards slavery at the moment was shown by his vote, in January 1820, for a resolution opposing the admission of Missouri as a slave state (though he himself was a slave owner). In the same year, he was chosen a presidential elector. It is at this point that Van Buren's connection began with so-called "machine politics". He was the leading figure in the " Albany Regency," a group of politicians who for more than a generation dominated much of the politics of New York and powerfully influenced those of the nation. The group, together with the political clubs such as Tammany Hall that were developing at the same time, played a major role in the development of the " spoils system" a recognized procedure in national, state and local affairs. The Bucktails became a loyal faction with a large amount of party loyalty, and through their actions they were able to capture and control many patronage posts throughout New York. Van Buren did not originate the system but gained the nickname of "Little Wizard" for the skill with which he exploited it. He served also as a member of the state constitutional convention, where he opposed the grant of universal suffrage and tried to keep property requirements.

U.S. Senate and national politics

In February 1821, Martin Van Buren was elected to the United States Senate. Martin Van Buren at first favored internal improvements, such as road repairs and canal creation, therefore proposing a constitutional amendment in 1824 to authorize such undertakings. The next year, however, he took ground against them. He voted for the tariff of 1824 then gradually abandoned the protectionist position, coming out for "tariffs for revenue only."

In the presidential election of 1824, Martin Van Buren supported William H. Crawford and received the electoral vote of Georgia for vice-president, but he shrewdly kept out of the acrimonious controversy which followed the choice of John Quincy Adams as President. Martin Van Buren had originally hoped to block Adams' victory by denying him the state of New York (the state was divided between Martin Van Buren supporters who would vote for William H. Crawford and Adams' men). However, Representative Stephen Van Rensselaer swung New York to Adams and thereby the 1824 Presidency. He recognized early the potential of Andrew Jackson as a presidential candidate.

After the election, Martin Van Buren sought to bring the Crawford and Jackson followers together and strengthened his control as a leader in the Senate. Always notably courteous in his treatment of opponents, he showed no bitterness toward either John Quincy Adams or Henry Clay, and he voted for Clay's confirmation as Secretary of State, notwithstanding Jackson's " corrupt bargain" charge. At the same time, he opposed the Adams-Clay plans for internal improvements and declined to support the proposal for a Panama Congress. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he brought forward a number of measures for the improvement of judicial procedure and, in May 1826, joined with Senator Thomas Hart Benton in presenting a report on executive patronage. In the debate on the " tariff of abominations" in 1828, he took no part but voted for the measure in obedience to instructions from the New York legislature—an action which was cited against him as late as the presidential campaign of 1844.

Martin Van Buren was not an orator, but his more important speeches show careful preparation and his opinions carried weight; the oft-repeated charge that he refrained from declaring himself on crucial questions is hardly borne out by an examination of his senatorial career. In February 1827, he was re-elected to the Senate by a large majority. He became one of the recognized managers of the Jackson campaign, and his tour of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia in the spring of 1827 won support for Jackson from Crawford. Martin Van Buren sought to reorganize and unify "the old Republican party" behind Jackson. Van Buren helped create a grassroots style of politicking that is often seen today. At the state level, Jackson's committee chairmen would split up the responsibilities around the state and organize volunteers at the local level. "Hurra Boys" would plant hickory trees (in honour of Jackson's nickname, "Old Hickory") or hand out hickory sticks at rallies. Martin Van Buren even had a New York journalist write a campaign piece portraying Jackson as a humble, pious man. "Organization is the secret of victory," an editor in the Adams camp wrote. He once said to a group of lobbyists the famous quote and "By the want of it we have been overthrown." In 1828, Martin Van Buren was elected governor of New York for the term beginning on January 1, 1829, and resigned his seat in the Senate.

Martin Van Buren's tenure as New York governor is the second shortest on record. While his term was short, he did manage to pass the Bank Safety Act (an early form of deposit insurance).

The Jackson Cabinet

On March 5, 1829, President Jackson appointed Van Buren Secretary of State, an office which probably had been assured to him before the election, and he resigned the governorship. He was succeeded in the governorship by his Lieutenant Governor, Enos T. Throop, a member of the regency. As Secretary of State, Van Buren took care to keep on good terms with the "kitchen cabinet", the group of politicians who acted as Jackson's advisers. He won the lasting regard of Jackson by his courtesies to Mrs. John H. Eaton ( Peggy Eaton), wife of the Secretary of War, with whom the wives of the cabinet officers had refused to associate. He did not oppose Jackson in the matter of removals from office but was not himself an active "spoilsman". He skillfully avoided entanglement in the Jackson- Calhoun imbroglio.

1832 Whig cartoon shows Jackson carrying Van Buren into office

No diplomatic questions of the first magnitude arose during Van Buren's service as secretary, but the settlement of long-standing claims against France was prepared and trade with the British West Indies colonies was opened. In the controversy with the Bank of the United States, he sided with Jackson. After the breach between Jackson and Calhoun, Van Buren was clearly the most prominent candidate for the vice-presidency.

Vice-Presidency

In December 1829, Jackson had already made known his own wish that Van Buren should receive the nomination. In April 1831, Van Buren resigned from his secretary of state position as a result of the Petticoat Affair—though he did not leave office until June. Van Buren still played a part in the Kitchen Cabinet. In August 1831, he was appointed minister to the Court of St. James (United Kingdom), and he arrived in London in September. He was cordially received, but in February, he learned that his nomination had been rejected by the Senate on January 25, 1832. The rejection, ostensibly attributed in large part to Van Buren's instructions to Louis McLane, the American minister to the United Kingdom, regarding the opening of the West Indies trade, in which reference had been made to the results of the election of 1828, was in fact the work of Calhoun, the vice-president. And when the vote was taken, enough of the majority refrained from voting to produce a tie and give Calhoun his longed-for "vengeance". No greater impetus than this could have been given to Van Buren's candidacy for the vice-presidency.

After a brief tour on through Europe, Van Buren reached New York on July 5, 1832. The 1832 Democratic National Convention (the party's first), held in May of that year, had nominated him for vice-president on the Jackson ticket, despite the strong opposition to him which existed in many states. Van Buren's platform included supporting the expansion of the naval system. His declarations during the campaign were vague regarding the tariff and unfavorable to the United States Bank and to nullification, but he had already somewhat placated the South by denying the right of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia without the consent of the slave states.

Election of 1836

It took Van Buren and his partisan friends a decade and a half to form the Democratic Party; many elements, such as the national convention, were borrowed from other parties.

In the election of 1832, the Jackson-Van Buren ticket won by a landslide. When the election of 1836 came up, Jackson was determined to make Van Buren, his personal choice, president in order to continue his legacy. Martin Van Buren's only competitors in the 1836 election were the Whigs, who were badly split into several regional candidates. William Henry Harrison hoped to receive the support of the Western voters, Daniel Webster had strength in New England, and Hugh Lawson White had support in the South. Van Buren was unanimously nominated by the 1835 Democratic National Convention at Baltimore. He expressed himself plainly on the questions of slavery and the bank at the same time voting, perhaps with a touch of bravado, for a bill offered in 1836 to subject abolition literature in the mails to the laws of the several states. Van Buren's presidential victory represented a broader victory for Jackson and the party. Van Buren entered the White House as a fifty-five year old widower with four sons.

Presidency 1837-1841

Policies

Martin Van Buren announced his intention "to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor," and retained all but one of Jackson's cabinet. Van Buren had few economic tools to deal with the economic crisis of 1837. Van Buren advocated lower tariffs and free trade, and by doing so maintained support of the south for the Democratic party. He succeeded in setting up a system of bonds for the national debt. His party was so split that his 1837 proposal for an "Independent Treasury" system did not pass until 1840. It gave the Treasury control of all federal funds and had a legal tender clause that required (by 1843) all payments to be made in legal tender rather than in state bank notes. But the act was repealed in 1841 and never had much impact. Foreign affairs were complicated when several states defaulted on their state bonds, London complained, and Washington explained it had no responsibility for those bonds. British authors such as Charles Dickens then denounced the American failure to pay royalties, leading to a negative press in Britain regarding the financial honesty of America. The Caroline Affair involved Canadian rebels using New York bases to attack the government in Canada. On December 29, 1837, Canadian government forces crossed the frontier into the US and burned the Caroline, which the rebels had been using. One American was killed, and an outburst of anti-British sentiment swept through the U.S. Van Buren sent the army to the frontier and closed the rebel bases. Van Buren tried to vigorously enforce the neutrality laws, but American public opinion favored the rebels. Boundary disputes in May brought Canadian and American lumberjacks into conflict. There was no bloodshed in this Aroostook War, but it further inflamed public opinion on both sides.

In a bold step, Van Buren reversed Andrew Jackson's policies and sought for peace at home, as well as abroad. Instead of settling a financial dispute between American citizens and the Mexican government by force, Van Buren wanted to seek a diplomatic solution. Also, in August of 1837, Van Buren denied Texas' formal request to join the United States. "Van Buren gave a higher priority to sectional harmony than to territorial expansion" ("Martin Van Buren" 103-114). In the Amistad Case Van Buren sided with the Spanish Government to return the kidnapped slaves. Also, he oversaw the " Trail of Tears", which involved the expulsion of the Cherokee tribe in 1838 from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina to the Oklahoma territory. Van Buren was determined to avoid war.

"Van Buren entered the presidency not only as the heir to Jackson's policies, Jefferson's ideology of limited government, and Smith's principles of political economy, but also an accomplished politician with a statesmanlike vision of the dangers facing the nation. This complex heritage would shape the new president's response to the multiple challenges of 1837."("Martin Van Buren" 103-114)

In 1839, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement visited Van Buren to plead for the U.S. to help roughly 20,000 Mormon settlers of Independence, Missouri (which would become the birthplace of future President Harry S Truman), who were forced from the state in the Mormon War there. The Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs, had issued an executive order on 27 October 1838, known as the " Extermination Order". It authorized troops to use force against Mormons to "exterminate or drive [them] from the state". In 1839, after moving to Illinois, Smith and his party appealed to congressman and to President Van Buren to intercede for the Mormons. According to Smith's grand-nephew, Van Buren said to Smith, "Your cause is just, but I can do nothing for you; if I take up for you I shall lose the vote of Missouri."

Van Buren took the blame for hard times, as Whigs ridiculed him as Martin Van Ruin. Van Buren's rather elegant personal style was also an easy target for Whig attacks, such as the Gold Spoon Oration. State elections of 1837 and 1838 were disastrous for the Democrats, and the partial economic recovery in 1839 was offset by a second commercial crisis in that year. Nevertheless, Van Buren controlled his party and was unanimously renominated by the Democrats in 1840. The revolt against Democratic rule led to the election of William Henry Harrison, the Whig candidate.

Administration and Cabinet

Portrait of Martin Van Buren

Supreme Court appointments

Van Buren appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:

• John McKinley - 1838
• Peter Vivian Daniel - 1842

Later life

Free Soil campaign banner

On the expiration of his term, Van Buren retired to his estate, Lindenwald in Kinderhook, where he planned out his return to the White House. He seemed to have the advantage for the nomination in 1844; his famous letter of April 27, 1844, in which he frankly opposed the immediate annexation of Texas, though doubtless contributing greatly to his defeat, was not made public until he felt practically sure of the nomination. In the Democratic convention, though he had a majority of the votes, he did not have the two-thirds which the convention required, and after eight ballots his name was withdrawn. James K. Polk received the nomination instead.

In 1848, he was nominated by two minor parties, first by the " Barnburner" faction of the Democrats, then by the Free Soilers, with whom the "Barnburners" coalesced. He won no electoral votes, but took enough votes in New York to give the state — and perhaps the election — to Zachary Taylor. In the election of 1860, he voted for the fusion ticket in New York which was opposed to Abraham Lincoln, but he could not approve of President Buchanan's course in dealing with secession and eventually supported Lincoln.

Martin Van Buren then retired to his home in Kinderhook. After being bedridden with a case of pneumonia during the fall of 1861, Martin Van Buren died of bronchial asthma and heart failure at his Lindenwald estate in Kinderhook at 2:00 a.m. on July 24, 1862. He is buried in the Kinderhook Cemetery.

Trivia

Van Buren postage stamp

• In an episode of The Monkees entitled "Dance, Monkee, Dance", Martin Van Buren is the answer to a trivia question entitling callers to a free dance lesson. Later in the episode, Van Buren himself shows up for the lesson.
• In 1842, Van Buren was campaigning in Indiana. In the town of Plainfield, the former President was ejected from his carriage by the roots of an elm tree into a large puddle of mud. Sources say that the townsfolk did this on purpose to protest a bill Van Buren vetoed. The elm tree became known as the Van Buren elm, and a nearby elementary school now bears Van Buren's name.
• Van Buren was given epithets by his enemies including Martin Van Ruin, and The Little Magician. He was also known as "The Red Fox of Kinderhook" because of his bright red hair and slyness.
• During Van Buren's presidential campaign of 1840 supporters popularized his nickname "Old Kinderhook," which was abbreviated as "OK." "OK Clubs" were set up. As "OK" was a passé slang term (possibly from a humerous abbreviation of "all correct"), it is possible that this helped revive and popularize " OK" .
• In Gore Vidal's novel Burr, Van Buren is secretly the illegitimate son of Aaron Burr.
• In a popular episode of Seinfeld entitled " The Van Buren Boys," Kramer and George are threatened by a street gang called the Van Buren Boys with the secret sign of the number 8 because Van Buren was the 8th president. They apparently picked that name because Van Buren was the man they most admired. The gang is apparently "every bit as mean as he was".
• Along with the traditional vampire motiff, Martin Van Buren's look was also part of the inspiration for the appearance of the "Grandpa" character on the TV show, The Munsters
• In the 2000 PBS documentary series The American President, Van Buren's voice was provided by Mario Cuomo. . In the 1997 film Amistad, he was played, more conventionally, by Nigel Hawthorne.
• Van Buren was the first president to grant an exclusive interview to a reporter, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., of the New York Herald in 1839.
• One of the titles of the Dutch kings and queens is Countess of Buren. This title is inherited from Anna van Buren, the first consort of William the Silent, although she is not an ancestor. Queen Wilhelmina sometimes used this title when she wanted to be incognito and the current crown prince Willem-Alexander was known as W.A. van Buren when he participated in the Eleven-cities Tour.
• Famous for his avoidance of commitment, a friendly senator made a bet with another senator that Van Buren would not agree that the sun rose in the East. The bettor put the question to Van Buren, who replied "I invariably awake in the morning after sunrise so I wouldn't know."