8. Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the first in a string of what my niece calls the “Forgotten Presidents”.  Of course it was difficult to follow a president with the stature of Andrew Jackson.  Much of his term in office was taken up with the Panic of 1837, the first major economic crisis to hit the United States.  This crisis was not due to anything that Van Buren did, but rather it had more to do with the vetoing of the re-chartering of the 2nd Bank of the United States by Jackson.  In those days, the president did not have many tools at his disposal to combat a  financial crisis, and they just had to wait it out and hope for the best, which is what Van Buren did.  He did establish the Independent Treasury System to try to control federal funds in 1840.  This was disbanded by W. H. Harrison, but revived later in the 1840’s and ultimately was replaced by the current Federal Reserve System.

Van Buren was born in 1782 in the small village of Kinderhook, New York.  His father owned a tavern and young Martin would listen to the political discussions going on.  Martin became a gifted politician and is credited with creating the Democratic Party and was instrumental in getting Jackson elected to two terms.  Van Buren helped create the system of campaigning that we see today with local committees that organize volunteers and grass roots campaigning.

Van Buren was twice elected a US Senator from New York and then elected Governor of New York in 1828.  His term as Governor of New York is the second shortest on record; he took office in January 1829 and resigned in March of 1829 to become Jackson’s Secretary of State.  While Secretary of State, Van Buren helped craft Jackson’s speech explaining his veto of the Maysville Road Bill that would have used federal money to build a road within the state of Kentucky.  Because the road did not link multiple states together (although supporters claimed it was part of the Cumberland Road system) Jackson did not support the use of federal money for a state improvement project.

Van Buren sided with Jackson in the Petticoat Affair.  Jackson was very unhappy with his cabinet over the whole Eaton affair and wanted to replace most of them.  Van Buren helped him save face by resigning first.  This allowed Jackson to ask the entire cabinet to resign (with the exception of the Postmaster).  Because of his support of the Eatons (and Jackson) he was appointed Minister to the Court of St. Jame’s (UK).  Although when he arrived in England to take over the post, he found out that the Senate had rejected his nomination, due in large part to the influence of John Calhoun, the vice president.  During his reelection run in 1832 Jackson replaced Calhoun with Van Buren as his vice president.

In the election of 1836 Van Buren won pretty easily (170-73) over William Henry Harrison due in large part to the endorsement of Jackson who was still very popular.  During his presidency he continued the policies of Jackson with respect to the Native American expulsion from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina to Oklahoma.  During this forced march thousands of Native Americans died in what has become known as the Trail of Tears.

During the election of 1840 Van Buren was soundly defeated by William Henry Harrison.  In the election of 1840 he was in the lead at the Democratic convention for the nomination, however he did not have the required two-thirds.  His opposition to the annexation of Texas led to his defeat and the nomination went to James K. Polk.  He ran again in 1848 as a Free Soil candidate, but received no electoral votes.  His running mate in the election of 1848 was Charles Francis Adams, the son of John Quincy Adams.

Van Buren’s major lasting legacy is the creation of the system of electioneering that we have today.  The concept of local party chair’s and organizing volunteers to promote a candidate was created by Martin Van Buren.

Party Favors:

• There are 5 towns (Indiana, Arkansas, Maine, Michigan, New York) and 3 counties (Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee) named after Van Buren.  I lived in Van Buren, Indiana from birth until we moved to Michigan just before I turned 5.
• Van Buren is one of only two people to serve as Secretary of State, Vice-President and President; the other was Jefferson
• He was the first president who was not of British descent; he was Dutch
• He is the only president not to have spoken English as his first language; he grew up speaking Dutch
• He was the first president born an American, all previous presidents were born British subjects
• The term O.K. is generally traced back to Van Buren’s 1840 reelection campaign.  One of his nicknames was “Old Kinderhook” and OK clubs were started around the country to support his reelection bid.
• Van Buren is one of two widowers elected president; Chester Arthur was the other.  Jackson’s wife died after the election but before he took office.
• He is probably the president with the most nicknames.  The most common were Old Kinderhook, the Magician, Matty Van and Martin Van Ruin.
• When he wrote is autobiography he did not mention his wife of 12 years

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Hannah Hoes, died in 1819 at the age of 35
• Children: 5 sons, one daughter (one son died as an infant and the daughter was stillborn)
• Party affiliation: Democratic-Republican Party (before 1825), Democratic Party (1828-1848), Free Soil Party (1848-1854)
• Presidency: 1836-1840
• Born: Dec 5th, 1782 (Kinderhook, New York)
• Died: Jul 24th, 1862 (Kinderhook, New York)