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Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he served as New York's
attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
,
U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...
, then briefly as the ninth
governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor h ...
before joining
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
's administration as the tenth
United States secretary of state The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
, minister to the United Kingdom, and ultimately the eighth
vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice p ...
when named Jackson's running mate for the 1832 election. Van Buren won the presidency in 1836, lost re-election in 1840, and failed to win the Democratic nomination in 1844. Later in his life, Van Buren emerged as an elder statesman and an important anti-slavery leader who led the Free Soil Party ticket in the 1848 presidential election. Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York, where most residents were of Dutch descent and spoke Dutch as their primary language. He was the first president to have been born after the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
— in which his father served as a patriot — and is the only president to have spoken English as a second language. Trained as a lawyer, he entered politics as a member of the
Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...
, won a seat in the
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan comp ...
, and was elected to the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
in 1821. As the leader of the Bucktails faction, Van Buren emerged as the most influential politician from New York in the 1820s and established a political machine known as the Albany Regency. Following the 1824 presidential election, Van Buren sought to re-establish a two-party system with partisan differences based on ideology rather than personalities or sectional differences; he supported
Andrew Jackson's Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derive ...
candidacy in the 1828 presidential election with this goal in mind. He ran successfully for governor of New York to support Jackson's campaign but resigned shortly after Jackson was inaugurated so he could accept appointment as Jackson's secretary of state. In the cabinet, Van Buren was a key Jackson advisor and built the organizational structure for the coalescing Democratic Party. He ultimately resigned to help resolve the
Petticoat affair The Petticoat affair (also known as the Eaton affair) was a political scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives, from 1829 to 1831. Led by Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, these wome ...
and briefly served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. At Jackson's behest, the
1832 Democratic National Convention The 1832 Democratic National Convention was held from May 21 to May 23, 1832, in Baltimore, Maryland. In the first presidential nominating convention ever held by the Democratic Party, incumbent President Andrew Jackson was nominated for a second ...
nominated Van Buren for vice president, and he took office after the Democratic ticket won the 1832 presidential election. With Jackson's strong support and the organizational strength of the Democratic Party, Van Buren successfully ran for president in the 1836 presidential election, defeating several Whig opponents. However, his popularity soon eroded because of his response to the Panic of 1837, which centered on his Independent Treasury system, a plan under which the federal government of the United States would store its funds in vaults rather than in banks; more conservative Democrats and Whigs in Congress ultimately delayed his plan from being implemented until 1840. His presidency was further marred by the costly
Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans and Black Indians. It was part of a ser ...
(a result of continuing Jackson's
Indian removal Indian removal was the United States government policy of forced displacement of self-governing tribes of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the eastern United States to lands west of the Mississippi Riverspecifically, to a ...
policy); and his refusal to admit Texas to the Union as a
slave state In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
as an attempt to avoid heightened sectional tensions. In 1840, Van Buren lost his
re-election bid The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
to
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
, the nominee of the anti- Jacksonian Whig Party. Van Buren was initially the leading candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination again in 1844, but his continued opposition to the annexation of Texas angered Southern Democrats, leading to the nomination of James K. Polk. Van Buren was the newly formed Free Soil Party's presidential nominee in 1848, and his candidacy helped Whig nominee
Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...
defeat Democrat
Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...
. Van Buren returned to the Democratic Party after 1848, but grew increasingly opposed to slavery, and became one of the party's outspoken
abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...
. He supported the policies of President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
, a Republican, during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
. He died of asthma at his home in Kinderhook, New York, on Thursday, July 24, 1862, aged 79. In historical rankings, historians and political scientists often rank Van Buren as an average or below-average U.S. president, due to his handling of the Panic of 1837.


Early life and education

Van Buren was born as Maarten Van Buren on December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York, about south of Albany in the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
valley. His father,
Abraham Van Buren Abraham Van Buren II (November 27, 1807 – March 15, 1873) was the eldest son of Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States and his wife, Hannah Hoes Van Buren. A career soldier and veteran of the Second Seminole War and Mexic ...
, was a descendant of Cornelis Maessen, a native of Buurmalsen, Netherlands who had emigrated to
New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...
in 1631 and purchased a plot of land on Manhattan Island. Van Buren was the first U.S President without any British ancestry. Abraham Van Buren had been a Patriot during the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, and he later joined the
Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...
. He owned an inn and tavern in Kinderhook and served as Kinderhook's town clerk for several years. In 1776, he married Maria Hoes (or Goes) Van Alen (1746-1818) in the town of Kinderhook, also of Dutch extraction and the widow of Johannes Van Alen (1744-c. 1773). She had three children from her first marriage, including future U.S. Representative James I. Van Alen. Her second marriage produced five children, of which Martin was the third. Van Buren received a basic education at the village schoolhouse, and briefly studied
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
at the
Kinderhook Academy Kinderhook is a town in the northern part of Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 8,330 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous municipality in Columbia County. The name of the town means "Children's Corner" in the ...
and at Washington Seminary in Claverack. Van Buren was raised speaking primarily Dutch and learned English while attending school; he is the only president of the United States whose first language was not English. Also during his childhood, Van Buren learned at his father's inn how to interact with people from varied ethnic, income, and societal groups, which he used to his advantage as a political organizer. His formal education ended in 1796, when he began reading law at the office of Peter Silvester and his son Francis. Van Buren, at tall, was small in stature, and affectionately nicknamed "Little Van". When he began his legal studies he wore rough, homespun clothing, causing the Silvesters to admonish him to pay greater heed to his clothing and personal appearance as an aspiring lawyer. He accepted their advice, and subsequently emulated the Silvesters' clothing, appearance, bearing, and conduct. The lessons he learned from the Silvesters were reflected in his career as a lawyer and politician, in which Van Buren was known for his amiability and fastidious appearance. Despite Kinderhook's strong affiliation with the
Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. Defeated by the Jeffersonian Repu ...
, of which the Silvesters were also strong supporters, Van Buren adopted his father's Democratic-Republican leanings. The Silvesters and Democratic-Republican political figure John Peter Van Ness suggested that Van Buren's political leanings constrained him to complete his education with a Democratic-Republican attorney, so he spent a final year of apprenticeship in the New York City office of John Van Ness's brother
William P. Van Ness William Peter Van Ness (February 13, 1778 – September 6, 1826) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New York and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, also ...
, a political lieutenant of Aaron Burr. Van Ness introduced Van Buren to the intricacies of New York state politics, and Van Buren observed Burr's battles for control of the state Democratic-Republican party against George Clinton and Robert R. Livingston. He returned to Kinderhook in 1803, after his admission to the New York bar. Van Buren married Hannah Hoes (or Goes) in Catskill, New York, on February 21, 1807. She was his childhood sweetheart, and a daughter of his maternal first cousin, Johannes Dircksen Hoes. She grew up in Valatie, and like Van Buren her home life was primarily Dutch; she spoke Dutch as her first language, and spoke English with a marked accent. The couple had six children, four of whom lived to adulthood: unnamed daughter (stillborn around 1807);
Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
(1807–1873), John (1810–1866), Martin Jr. (1812–1855), Winfield Scott (born and died in 1814), and Smith Thompson (1817–1876). Hannah contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...
, and died in Kinderhook on February 5, 1819, at age 35. Van Buren never remarried.


Early political career

Upon returning to Kinderhook in 1803, Van Buren formed a law partnership with his half-brother, James Van Alen, and became financially secure enough to increase his focus on politics. Van Buren had been active in politics from age 18, if not before. In 1801, he attended a
Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...
convention in
Troy, New York Troy is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Huds ...
, where he worked successfully to secure for John Peter Van Ness the party nomination in a special election for the 6th Congressional District seat. Upon returning to Kinderhook, Van Buren broke with the Burr faction, becoming an ally of both
DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely re ...
and
Daniel D. Tompkins Daniel D. Tompkins (June 21, 1774 – June 11, 1825) was an American politician. He was the fifth governor of New York from 1807 to 1817, and the sixth vice president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. Born in Scarsdale, New York, Tompkins ...
. After the faction led by Clinton and Tompkins dominated the 1807 elections, Van Buren was appointed
Surrogate A surrogate is a substitute or deputy for another person in a specific role and may refer to: Relationships * Surrogacy, an arrangement where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another person who will become its parent at bir ...
of Columbia County, New York. Seeking a better base for his political and legal career, Van Buren and his family moved to the town of Hudson, the seat of Columbia County, in 1808. Van Buren's legal practice continued to flourish, and he traveled all over the state to represent various clients. In 1812, Van Buren won his party's nomination for a seat in the
New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan comp ...
. Though several Democratic-Republicans, including John Peter Van Ness, joined with the Federalists to oppose his candidacy, Van Buren won election to the state senate in mid-1812. Later in the year, the United States entered the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
against Great Britain, while Clinton launched an unsuccessful bid to defeat President
James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...
in the 1812 presidential election. After the election, Van Buren became suspicious that Clinton was working with the Federalist Party, and he broke from his former political ally. During the War of 1812, Van Buren worked with Clinton, Governor Tompkins, and
Ambrose Spencer Ambrose Spencer (December 13, 1765March 13, 1848) was an American lawyer and politician. Early life Ambrose Spencer was born on December 13, 1765 in Salisbury in the Connecticut Colony. He was the son of Philip Spencer and Mary (née Moore) Sp ...
to support the Madison administration's prosecution of the war. In addition, he was a special judge advocate appointed to serve as a prosecutor of
William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...
during Hull's court-martial following the surrender of Detroit. Anticipating another military campaign, he collaborated with Winfield Scott on ways to reorganize the New York Militia in the winter of 1814–1815, but the end of the war halted their work in early 1815. Van Buren was so favorably impressed by Scott that he named his fourth son after him. Van Buren's strong support for the war boosted his standing, and in 1815, he was elected to the position of New York Attorney General. Van Buren moved from Hudson to the state capital of Albany, where he established a legal partnership with Benjamin Butler, and shared a house with political ally
Roger Skinner Roger Skinner (June 1, 1773 – August 19, 1825) was an attorney and government official from New York. He was most notable for his service as United States district judge for the Northern District of New York from 1819 to 1825. A native of L ...
. In 1816, Van Buren won re-election to the state senate, and he would continue to simultaneously serve as both state senator and as the state's attorney general. In 1819, he played an active part in prosecuting the accused murderers of Richard Jennings, the first murder-for-hire case in the state of New York.


Albany regency

After Tompkins was elected as vice president in the 1816 presidential election, Clinton defeated Van Buren's preferred candidate, Peter Buell Porter, in the 1817 New York gubernatorial election. Clinton threw his influence behind the construction of the
Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing ...
, an ambitious project designed to connect
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...
to the Atlantic Ocean. Though many of Van Buren's allies urged him to block Clinton's Erie Canal bill, Van Buren believed that the canal would benefit the state. His support for the bill helped it win approval from the New York legislature. Despite his support for the Erie Canal, Van Buren became the leader of an anti-Clintonian faction in New York known as the " Bucktails". The Bucktails succeeded in emphasizing party loyalty and used it to capture and control many patronage posts throughout New York. Through his use of patronage, loyal newspapers, and connections with local party officials and leaders, Van Buren established what became known as the " Albany Regency", a
political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...
that emerged as an important factor in New York politics. The Regency relied on a coalition of small farmers, but also enjoyed support from the
Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...
machine in New York City. During this era, Van Buren largely determined Tammany Hall's political policy for New York's Democratic-Republicans. A New York state referendum that expanded state voting rights to all white men in 1821, and which further increased the power of Tammany Hall, was guided by Van Buren. Although Governor Clinton remained in office until late 1822, Van Buren emerged as the leader of the state's Democratic-Republicans after the 1820 elections. Van Buren was a member of the 1820 state constitutional convention, where he favored expanded voting rights, but opposed universal suffrage and tried to maintain property requirements for voting.


Entry into national politics

In February 1821, the state legislature elected Van Buren to represent New York in the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
. Van Buren arrived in Washington during the " Era of Good Feelings", a period in which partisan distinctions at the national level had faded. Van Buren quickly became a prominent figure in Washington, D.C., befriending Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, among others. Though not an exceptional orator, Van Buren frequently spoke on the Senate floor, usually after extensively researching the subject at hand. Despite his commitments as a father and state party leader, Van Buren remained closely engaged in his legislative duties, and during his time in the Senate he served as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. As he gained renown, Van Buren earned monikers like "Little Magician" and "Sly Fox". Van Buren chose to back Crawford over John Quincy Adams,
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, and Henry Clay in the presidential election of 1824. Crawford shared Van Buren's affinity for Jeffersonian principles of states' rights and limited government, and Van Buren believed that Crawford was the ideal figure to lead a coalition of New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia's " Richmond Junto". Van Buren's support for Crawford aroused strong opposition in New York in the form of the People's party, which drew support from Clintonians, Federalists, and others opposed to Van Buren. Nonetheless, Van Buren helped Crawford win the Democratic-Republican party's presidential nomination at the February 1824
congressional nominating caucus The congressional nominating caucus is the name for informal meetings in which American congressmen would agree on whom to nominate for the Presidency and Vice Presidency from their political party. History The system was introduced after George W ...
. The other Democratic-Republican candidates in the race refused to accept the poorly attended caucus's decision, and as the Federalist Party had all but ceased to function as a national party, the 1824 campaign became a competition among four candidates of the same party. Though Crawford suffered a severe stroke that left him in poor health, Van Buren continued to support his chosen candidate. Van Buren met with
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
in May 1824 in an attempt to bolster Crawford's candidacy, and though he was unsuccessful in gaining a public endorsement for Crawford, he nonetheless cherished the chance to meet with his political hero. The 1824 elections dealt a severe blow to the Albany Regency, as Clinton returned to the governorship with the support of the People's party. By the time the state legislature convened to choose the state's presidential electors, results from other states had made it clear that no individual would win a majority of the electoral vote, necessitating a contingent election in the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. While Adams and Jackson finished in the top three and were eligible for selection in the contingent election, New York's electors would help determine whether Clay or Crawford would finish third. Though most of the state's electoral votes went to Adams, Crawford won one more electoral vote than Clay in the state, and Clay's defeat in Louisiana left Crawford in third place. With Crawford still in the running, Van Buren lobbied members of the House to support him. He hoped to engineer a Crawford victory on the second ballot of the contingent election, but Adams won on the first ballot with the help of Clay and
Stephen Van Rensselaer Stephen Van Rensselaer III (; November 1, 1764January 26, 1839) was an American landowner, businessman, militia officer, and politician. A graduate of Harvard College, at age 21, Van Rensselaer took control of Rensselaerswyck, his family's mano ...
, a Congressman from New York. Despite his close ties with Van Buren, Van Rensselaer cast his vote for Adams, thus giving Adams a narrow majority of New York's delegation and a victory in the contingent election. After the House contest, Van Buren shrewdly kept out of the controversy which followed, and began looking forward to 1828. Jackson was angered to see the presidency go to Adams despite having won more popular votes than he had, and he eagerly looked forward to a rematch. Jackson's supporters accused Adams and Clay of having made a " corrupt bargain" in which Clay helped Adams win the contingent election in return for Clay's appointment as Secretary of State. Van Buren was always courteous in his treatment of opponents and showed no bitterness toward either Adams or Clay, and he voted to confirm Clay's nomination to the cabinet. At the same time, Van Buren opposed the Adams-Clay plans for internal improvements like roads and canals and declined to support U.S. participation in the Congress of Panama. Van Buren considered Adams's proposals to represent a return to the Hamiltonian economic model favored by Federalists, which he strongly opposed. Despite his opposition to Adams's public policies, Van Buren easily secured re-election in his divided home state in 1827.


1828 elections

Van Buren's overarching goal at the national level was to restore a two-party system with party cleavages based on philosophical differences, and he viewed the old divide between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans as beneficial to the nation. Van Buren believed that these national parties helped ensure that elections were decided on national, rather than sectional or local, issues; as he put it, "party attachment in former times furnished a complete antidote for sectional prejudices". After the 1824 election, Van Buren was initially somewhat skeptical of Jackson, who had not taken strong positions on most policy issues. Nonetheless, he settled on Jackson as the one candidate who could beat Adams in the 1828 presidential election, and he worked to bring Crawford's former backers into line behind Jackson. He also forged alliances with other members of Congress opposed to Adams, including Vice President
John C. Calhoun John Caldwell Calhoun (; March 18, 1782March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He ...
, Senator Thomas Hart Benton, and Senator John Randolph. Seeking to solidify his standing in New York and bolster Jackson's campaign, Van Buren helped arrange the passage of the
Tariff of 1828 The Tariff of 1828 was a very high protective tariff that became law in the United States in May 1828. It was a bill designed to not pass Congress because it was seen by free trade supporters as hurting both industry and farming, but surprisin ...
, which opponents labeled as the "Tariff of Abominations". The tariff satisfied many who sought protection from foreign competition, but angered Southern cotton interests and New Englanders. Because Van Buren believed that the South would never support Adams, and New England would never support Jackson, he was willing to alienate both regions through passage of the tariff. Meanwhile, Clinton's death from a heart attack in 1828 dramatically shook up the politics of Van Buren's home state, while the
Anti-Masonic Party The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry, but later aspired to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. After ...
emerged as an increasingly important factor. After some initial reluctance, Van Buren chose to run for Governor of New York in the 1828 election. Hoping that a Jackson victory would lead to his elevation to Secretary of State or Secretary of the Treasury, Van Buren chose
Enos T. Throop Enos Thompson Throop ( ; August 21, 1784 – November 1, 1874) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who was the tenth Governor of New York from 1829 to 1832. Early life and career Throop was born in Johnstown, New York on August 21, ...
as his running mate and preferred successor. Van Buren's candidacy was aided by the split between supporters of Adams, who had adopted the label of National Republicans, and the Anti-Masonic Party. Reflecting his public association with Jackson, Van Buren accepted the gubernatorial nomination on a ticket that called itself "Jacksonian-Democrat". He campaigned on local as well as national issues, emphasizing his opposition to the policies of the Adams administration. Van Buren ran ahead of Jackson, winning the state by 30,000 votes compared to a margin of 5,000 for Jackson. Nationally, Jackson defeated Adams by a wide margin, winning nearly every state outside of New England. After the election, Van Buren resigned from the Senate to start his term as governor, which began on January 1, 1829. While his term as governor was short, he did manage to pass the Bank Safety Fund Law, an early form of deposit insurance, through the legislature. He also appointed several key supporters, including
William L. Marcy William Learned Marcy (December 12, 1786July 4, 1857) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served as U.S. Senator, Governor of New York, U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of State. In the latter office, he negotiated the Ga ...
and Silas Wright, to important state positions.


Jackson administration (1829–1837)


Secretary of State

In February 1829, Jackson wrote to Van Buren to ask him to become Secretary of State. Van Buren quickly agreed, and he resigned as governor the following month; his tenure of forty-three days is the shortest of any Governor of New York. No serious diplomatic crises arose during Van Buren's tenure as Secretary of State, but he achieved several notable successes, such as settling long-standing claims against France and winning reparations for property that had been seized during the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
. He reached an agreement with the British to open trade with the British West Indies colonies and concluded a treaty with the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...
that gained American merchants access to the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...
. Items on which he did not achieve success included settling the
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
-
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
boundary dispute with Great Britain, gaining settlement of the U.S. claim to the
Oregon Country Oregon Country was a large region of the Pacific Northwest of North America that was subject to a long dispute between the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 19th century. The area, which had been created by the Treaty of 1818, co ...
, concluding a commercial treaty with Russia, and persuading Mexico to sell
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. In addition to his foreign policy duties, Van Buren quickly emerged as an important advisor to Jackson on major domestic issues like the tariff and internal improvements. The Secretary of State was instrumental in convincing Jackson to issue the
Maysville Road veto The Maysville Road veto occurred on May 27, 1830, when United States President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill that would allow the federal government to purchase stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Road Company, which had ...
, which both reaffirmed limited government principles and also helped prevent the construction of infrastructure projects that could potentially compete with New York's Erie Canal. He also became involved in a power struggle with Calhoun over appointments and other issues, including the
Petticoat Affair The Petticoat affair (also known as the Eaton affair) was a political scandal involving members of President Andrew Jackson's Cabinet and their wives, from 1829 to 1831. Led by Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun, these wome ...
. The Petticoat Affair arose because
Peggy Eaton Margaret O'Neill (or O'Neale) Timberlake Eaton (December 3, 1799 – November 8, 1879), was the wife of John Henry Eaton, a United States senator from Tennessee and United States Secretary of War, and a confidant of Andrew Jackson. Their ma ...
, wife of Secretary of War John H. Eaton, was ostracized by the other cabinet wives due to the circumstances of her marriage. Led by
Floride Calhoun Floride Bonneau Calhoun (née Colhoun; February 15, 1792 – July 25, 1866) was the wife of U.S. politician John C. Calhoun. She is best known for her leading role in the Petticoat affair, which occurred during her husband's service as v ...
, wife of Vice President John Calhoun, the other cabinet wives refused to pay courtesy calls to the Eatons, receive them as visitors, or invite them to social events. As a widower, Van Buren was unaffected by the position of the cabinet wives. Van Buren initially sought to mend the divide in the cabinet, but most of the leading citizens in Washington continued to snub the Eatons. Jackson was close to Eaton, and he came to the conclusion that the allegations against Eaton arose from a plot against his administration led by Henry Clay. The Petticoat Affair, combined with a contentious debate over the tariff and Calhoun's decade-old criticisms of Jackson's actions in the
First Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostiliti ...
, contributed to a split between Jackson and Calhoun. As the debate over the tariff and the proposed ability of South Carolina to nullify federal law consumed Washington, Van Buren increasingly emerged as Jackson's likely successor. The Petticoat affair was finally resolved when Van Buren offered to resign. In April 1831, Jackson accepted and reorganized his cabinet by asking for the resignations of the anti-Eaton cabinet members. Postmaster General William T. Barry, who had sided with the Eatons in the Petticoat Affair, was the lone cabinet member to remain in office. The cabinet reorganization removed Calhoun's allies from the Jackson administration, and Van Buren had a major role in shaping the new cabinet. After leaving office, Van Buren continued to play a part in the
Kitchen Cabinet Kitchen cabinets are the built-in furniture installed in many kitchens for storage of food, cooking equipment, and often silverware and dishes for table service. Appliances such as refrigerators, dishwashers, and ovens are often integrated in ...
, Jackson's informal circle of advisors.


Ambassador to Britain and vice-presidency

In August 1831, Jackson gave Van Buren a recess appointment as the ambassador to Britain, and Van Buren arrived in London in September. He was cordially received, but in February 1832, he learned that the Senate had rejected his nomination. The rejection of Van Buren was essentially the work of Calhoun. When the vote on Van Buren's nomination was taken, enough pro-Calhoun Jacksonians refrained from voting to produce a tie, which allowed Calhoun to cast the deciding vote against Van Buren. Calhoun was elated, convinced that he had ended Van Buren's career. "It will kill him dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick", Calhoun exclaimed to a friend. Calhoun's move backfired; by making Van Buren appear the victim of petty politics, Calhoun raised Van Buren in both Jackson's regard and the esteem of others in the Democratic Party. Far from ending Van Buren's career, Calhoun's action gave greater impetus to Van Buren's candidacy for vice president. Seeking to ensure that Van Buren would replace Calhoun as his running mate, Jackson had arranged for a national convention of his supporters. The May 
1832 Democratic National Convention The 1832 Democratic National Convention was held from May 21 to May 23, 1832, in Baltimore, Maryland. In the first presidential nominating convention ever held by the Democratic Party, incumbent President Andrew Jackson was nominated for a second ...
subsequently nominated Van Buren to serve as the party's vice presidential nominee. Van Buren won the nomination over
Philip P. Barbour Philip Pendleton Barbour (May 25, 1783 – February 25, 1841) was the tenth speaker of the United States House of Representatives and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is the only individual to serve in bot ...
(Calhoun's favored candidate) and Richard Mentor Johnson due to the support of Jackson and the strength of the Albany Regency. Upon Van Buren's return from Europe in July 1832, he became involved in the Bank War, a struggle over the renewal of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States. Van Buren had long been distrustful of banks, and he viewed the Bank as an extension of the Hamiltonian economic program, so he supported Jackson's veto of the Bank's re-charter. Henry Clay, the presidential nominee of the National Republicans, made the struggle over the Bank the key issue of the presidential election of 1832. The Jackson–Van Buren ticket won the 1832 election by a landslide, and Van Buren took office as vice president in March 1833. During the Nullification Crisis, Van Buren counseled Jackson to pursue a policy of conciliation with South Carolina leaders. He played little direct role in the passage of the
Tariff of 1833 The Tariff of 1833 (also known as the Compromise Tariff of 1833, ch. 55, ), enacted on March 2, 1833, was proposed by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun as a resolution to the Nullification Crisis. Enacted under Andrew Jackson's presidency, it was a ...
, but he quietly hoped that the tariff would help bring an end to the Nullification Crisis, which it did. As Vice President, Van Buren continued to be one of Jackson's primary advisors and confidants, and accompanied Jackson on his tour of the northeastern United States in 1833. Jackson's struggle with the Second Bank of the United States continued, as the president sought to remove federal funds from the Bank. Though initially apprehensive of the removal due to congressional support for the Bank, Van Buren eventually came to support Jackson's policy. He also helped undermine a fledgling alliance between Jackson and Daniel Webster, a senator from Massachusetts who could have potentially threatened Van Buren's project to create two parties separated by policy differences rather than personalities. During Jackson's second term, the president's supporters began to refer to themselves as members of the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, those opposed to Jackson, including Clay's National Republicans, followers of Calhoun and Webster, and many members of the Anti-Masonic Party, coalesced into the Whig Party.


Presidential election of 1836

President
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
declined to seek another term in the 1836 presidential election, but he remained influential within the Democratic Party as his second term came to an end. Jackson was determined to help elect Van Buren in 1836 so that the latter could continue the Jackson administration's policies. The two men—the charismatic "Old Hickory" and the efficient "Sly Fox"—had entirely different personalities but had become an effective team in eight years in office together. With Jackson's support, Van Buren won the presidential nomination of the
1835 Democratic National Convention The 1835 Democratic National Convention was held from May 20 to May 22, 1835, in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the second presidential nominating convention held in the history of the Democratic Party, following the 1832 Democratic National Convent ...
without opposition. Two names were put forward for the vice-presidential nomination: Representative Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, and former Senator William Cabell Rives of Virginia. Southern Democrats, and Van Buren himself, strongly preferred Rives. Jackson, on the other hand, strongly preferred Johnson. Again, Jackson's considerable influence prevailed, and Johnson received the required two-thirds vote after New York Senator Silas Wright prevailed upon non-delegate Edward Rucker to cast the 15 votes of the absent Tennessee delegation in Johnson's favor. Van Buren's competitors in the election of 1836 were three members of the Whig Party, which remained a loose coalition bound by mutual opposition to Jackson's anti-bank policies. Lacking the party unity or organizational strength to field a single ticket or define a single platform, the Whigs ran several regional candidates in hopes of sending the election to the House of Representatives. The three candidates were Hugh Lawson White of Tennessee, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
of Indiana. Besides endorsing internal improvements and a national bank, the Whigs tried to tie Democrats to
abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...
and sectional tension, and attacked Jackson for "acts of aggression and usurpation of power". Southern voters represented the biggest potential impediment to Van Buren's quest for the presidency, as many were apprehensive at the prospect of a Northern president. Van Buren moved to obtain their support by assuring them that he opposed abolitionism and supported maintaining slavery in states where it already existed. To demonstrate consistency regarding his opinions on slavery, Van Buren cast the tie-breaking Senate vote for a bill to subject abolitionist mail to state laws, thus ensuring that its circulation would be prohibited in the South. Van Buren considered slavery to be immoral but sanctioned by the Constitution. Van Buren won the election with 764,198 popular votes, 50.9% of the total, and 170  electoral votes. Harrison led the Whigs with 73 electoral votes, White receiving 26, and Webster 14. Willie Person Mangum received South Carolina's 11 electoral votes, which were awarded by the state legislature. Van Buren's victory resulted from a combination of his attractive political and personal qualities, Jackson's popularity and endorsement, the organizational power of the Democratic Party, and the inability of the Whig Party to muster an effective candidate and campaign. Virginia's presidential electors voted for Van Buren for president, but voted for William Smith for vice president, leaving Johnson one electoral vote short of election. In accordance with the Twelfth Amendment, the Senate elected Johnson vice president in a contingent vote. The election of 1836 marked an important turning point in American political history because it saw the establishment of the
Second Party System Historians and political scientists use Second Party System to periodize the political party system operating in the United States from about 1828 to 1852, after the First Party System ended. The system was characterized by rapidly rising levels ...
. In the early 1830s, the political party structure was still changing, rapidly, and factional and personal leaders continued to play a major role in politics. By the end of the campaign of 1836, the new party system was almost complete, as nearly every faction had been absorbed by either the Democrats or the Whigs.


Presidency (1837–1841)


Cabinet

Van Buren retained much of Jackson's cabinet and lower-level appointees, as he hoped that the retention of Jackson's appointees would stop Whig momentum in the South and restore confidence in the Democrats as a party of sectional unity. The cabinet holdovers represented the different regions of the country: Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury came from New England, Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler and Secretary of the Navy
Mahlon Dickerson Mahlon Dickerson (April 17, 1770 – October 5, 1853) was a justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, the seventh governor of New Jersey, United States Senator from New Jersey, the 10th United States Secretary of the Navy and a United States ...
hailed from mid-Atlantic states, Secretary of State John Forsyth represented the South, and Postmaster General
Amos Kendall Amos Kendall (August 16, 1789 – November 12, 1869) was an American lawyer, journalist and politician. He rose to prominence as editor-in-chief of the '' Argus of Western America'', an influential newspaper in Frankfort, the capital of the U.S ...
of Kentucky represented the West. For the lone open position of Secretary of War, Van Buren first approached William Cabell Rives, who had sought the vice presidency in 1836. After Rives declined to join the cabinet, Van Buren appointed Joel Roberts Poinsett, a South Carolinian who had opposed secession during the Nullification Crisis. Van Buren's cabinet choices were criticized by Pennsylvanians such as
James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...
, who argued that their state deserved a cabinet position as well as some Democrats who argued that Van Buren should have used his patronage powers to augment his power. However, Van Buren saw value in avoiding contentious patronage battles, and his decision to retain Jackson's cabinet made it clear that he intended to continue the policies of his predecessor. Additionally, Van Buren had helped select Jackson's cabinet appointees and enjoyed strong working relationships with them. Van Buren held regular formal cabinet meetings and discontinued the informal gatherings of advisors that had attracted so much attention during Jackson's presidency. He solicited advice from department heads, tolerated open and even frank exchanges between cabinet members, perceiving himself as "a mediator, and to some extent an umpire between the conflicting opinions" of his counselors. Such detachment allowed the president to reserve judgment and protect his prerogative for making final decisions. These open discussions gave cabinet members a sense of participation and made them feel part of a functioning entity, rather than isolated executive agents. Van Buren was closely involved in foreign affairs and matters pertaining to the Treasury Department; but the Post Office, War Department, and Navy Department had significant autonomy under their respective cabinet secretaries.


Panic of 1837

When Van Buren entered office, the nation's economic health had taken a turn for the worse and the prosperity of the early 1830s was over. Two months into his presidency, on May 10, 1837, some important state banks in New York, running out of hard currency reserves, refused to convert paper money into gold or silver, and other financial institutions throughout the nation quickly followed suit. This financial crisis would become known as the Panic of 1837. The Panic was followed by a five-year depression in which banks failed and unemployment reached record highs. Van Buren blamed the economic collapse on greedy American and foreign business and financial institutions, as well as the over-extension of credit by U.S. banks. Whig leaders in Congress blamed the Democrats, along with Andrew Jackson's economic policies, specifically his 1836 Specie Circular. Cries of "rescind the circular!" went up and former president Jackson sent word to Van Buren asking him not to rescind the order, believing that it had to be given enough time to work. Others, like Nicholas Biddle, believed that Jackson's dismantling of the Bank of the United States was directly responsible for the irresponsible creation of paper money by the state banks which had precipitated this panic. The Panic of 1837 loomed large over the 1838 election cycle, as the carryover effects of the economic downturn led to Whig gains in both the U.S. House and Senate. The state elections in 1837 and 1838 were also disastrous for the Democrats, and the partial economic recovery in 1838 was offset by a second commercial crisis later that year. To address the crisis, the Whigs proposed rechartering the national bank. The president countered by proposing the establishment of an independent U.S. treasury, which he contended would take the politics out of the nation's money supply. Under the plan, the government would hold its money in gold or silver, and would be restricted from printing paper money at will; both measures were designed to prevent inflation. The plan would permanently separate the government from private banks by storing government funds in government vaults rather than in private banks. Van Buren announced his proposal in September 1837, but an alliance of conservative Democrats and Whigs prevented it from becoming law until 1840. As the debate continued, conservative Democrats like Rives defected to the Whig Party, which itself grew more unified in its opposition to Van Buren. The Whigs would abolish the Independent Treasury system in 1841, but it was revived in 1846, and remained in place until the passage of the
Federal Reserve Act The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. The Pani ...
in 1913. More important for Van Buren's immediate future, the depression would be a major issue in his upcoming re-election campaign.


Indian removal

Federal policy under Jackson had sought to move Indian tribes to lands west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
through the
Indian Removal Act of 1830 The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...
, and the federal government negotiated 19 treaties with Indian tribes during Van Buren's presidency. The 1835 Treaty of New Echota signed by government officials and representatives of the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
tribe had established terms under which the Cherokees ceded their territory in the southeast and agreed to move west to
Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
. In 1838, Van Buren directed General Winfield Scott to forcibly move all those who had not yet complied with the treaty. The Cherokees were herded violently into
internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...
s where they were kept for the summer of 1838. The actual transportation west was delayed by intense heat and drought, but in the fall, the Cherokee reluctantly agreed to transport themselves west. Some 20,000 people were relocated against their will during the Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears. Notably,
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...
, who would go on to become America's foremost man of letters, wrote Van Buren a letter protesting his treatment of the Cherokee. The administration also contended with the Seminole Indians, who engaged the army in a prolonged conflict known as the
Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans and Black Indians. It was part of a ser ...
. Before he left office, Jackson put General Thomas Jesup in command of all military troops in Florida to force Seminole emigration to the West. Forts were established throughout the Indian territory, and mobile columns of soldiers scoured the countryside, and many Seminoles offered to surrender, including Chief Micanopy. The Seminoles slowly gathered for emigration near Tampa, but in June they fled the detention camps, driven off by disease and the presence of slave catchers hoping to capture
Black Seminole The Black Seminoles, or Afro-Seminoles are Native American-Africans associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. They are mostly blood descendants of the Seminole people, free Africans, and escaped slaves, who allied with Seminole ...
s. In December 1837, Jesup began a massive offensive, culminating in the
Battle of Lake Okeechobee The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the major battles of the Second Seminole War. It was fought between 800 troops of the 1st, 4th, and 6th Infantry Regiments and 132 Missouri Volunteers (under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor), and be ...
, and the war entered a new phase of attrition. During this time, the government realized that it would be almost impossible to drive the remaining Seminoles from Florida, so Van Buren sent General Alexander Macomb to negotiate peace with them. It was the only time that an Indian tribe had forced the government to sue for peace. An agreement was reached allowing the Seminoles to remain in southwest Florida, but the peace was shattered in July 1839 and was not restored until 1842, after Van Buren had left office.


Texas

Just before leaving office in March 1837, Andrew Jackson extended diplomatic recognition to the
Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Me ...
, which had won independence from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. By suggesting the prospect of quick
annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
, Jackson raised the danger of war with Mexico and heightened sectional tensions at home. New England abolitionists charged that there was a " slaveholding conspiracy to acquire Texas", and Daniel Webster eloquently denounced annexation. Many Southern leaders, meanwhile, strongly desired the expansion of slave-holding territory in the United States. Boldly reversing Jackson's policies, Van Buren sought peace abroad and harmony at home. He proposed a diplomatic solution to a long-standing financial dispute between American citizens and the Mexican government, rejecting Jackson's threat to settle it by force. Likewise, when the Texas minister at Washington, D.C., proposed annexation to the administration in August 1837, he was told that the proposition could not be entertained. Constitutional scruples and fear of war with Mexico were the reasons given for the rejection, but concern that it would precipitate a clash over the extension of slavery undoubtedly influenced Van Buren and continued to be the chief obstacle to annexation. Northern and Southern Democrats followed an unspoken rule: Northerners helped quash anti-slavery proposals and Southerners refrained from agitating for the annexation of Texas. Texas withdrew the annexation offer in 1838.


Great Britain

British subjects in
Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec ...
(now Quebec) and
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North Americ ...
(now Ontario) rose in rebellion in 1837 and 1838, protesting their lack of
responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...
. While the initial insurrection in Upper Canada ended quickly (following the December 1837 Battle of Montgomery's Tavern), many of the rebels fled across the Niagara River into New York, and Upper Canadian rebel leader William Lyon Mackenzie began recruiting volunteers in Buffalo. Mackenzie declared the establishment of the Republic of Canada and put into motion a plan whereby volunteers would invade Upper Canada from Navy Island on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. Several hundred volunteers traveled to Navy Island in the weeks that followed. They procured the steamboat ''
Caroline Caroline may refer to: People *Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...
'' to deliver supplies to Navy Island from
Fort Schlosser Fort Schlosser was a fortification built in Western New York in the United States around 1760 by British Colonial forces, in order to guard the upper entrance to the portage around Niagara Falls, north of Porter-Barton Dock or Schlosser's Landin ...
. Seeking to deter an imminent invasion, British forces crossed to the American bank of the river in late December 1837, and they burned and sank the ''Caroline''. In the melee, one American was killed and others were wounded. Considerable sentiment arose within the United States to declare war, and a British ship was burned in revenge. Van Buren, looking to avoid a war with Great Britain, sent General Winfield Scott to the
Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: ...
with large discretionary powers for its protection and its peace. Scott impressed upon American citizens the need for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, and made it clear that the U.S. government would not support adventuresome Americans attacking the British. Also, in early January 1838, the president proclaimed U.S. neutrality in the Canadian independence issue, a declaration which Congress endorsed by passing a neutrality law designed to discourage the participation of American citizens in foreign conflicts. During the Canadian rebellions, Charles Duncombe and Robert Nelson helped foment a largely American militia, the Hunters' Lodge, modeled on their Lower Canadian namesake Frères chasseurs. This militia carried out several attacks in Upper Canada between December 1837 and December 1838, collectively known as the Patriot War. The administration followed through on its enforcement of the Neutrality Act, encouraged the prosecution of filibusters, and actively deterred U.S. citizens from subversive activities abroad. In the long term, Van Buren's opposition to the Patriot War contributed to the construction of healthy
Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...
and
Canada–United States relations Relations between Canada and the United States have historically been extensive, given the two countries' shared origins and border, which is the longest in the world. Starting with the American Revolution, when Loyalists fled to Canada, a voca ...
in the 20th century; it also led, more immediately, to a backlash among citizens regarding the seeming overreach of federal authority, which hurt congressional Democrats in the 1838 midterm elections. A new crisis surfaced in late 1838, in the disputed territory on the
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
frontier, where Americans were settling on long-disputed land claimed by the United States and Great Britain. Jackson had been willing to drop American claims to the region in return for other concessions, but Maine was unwilling to drop its claims to the disputed territory. The British considered possession of the area vital to the defense of Canada. Both American and New Brunswick
lumberjack Lumberjacks are mostly North American workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees for ultimate processing into forest products. The term usually refers to loggers in the era (before 1945 in the Unite ...
s cut timber in the disputed territory during the winter of 1838–1839. On December 29, New Brunswick lumbermen were spotted cutting down trees on an American estate near the
Aroostook River The Aroostook River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 tributary of the Saint John River in the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Br ...
. After American woodcutters rushed to stand guard, a shouting match, known as the
Battle of Caribou The Battle of Caribou was a minor and ultimately bloodless skirmish between U.S. and British (Canadian) armed lumberjacks during the Aroostook War. It added to the growing tensions between the respective governments and encouraged the mobilization ...
, ensued. Tensions quickly boiled over into a near war with both Maine and New Brunswick arresting each other's citizens. The crisis seemed ready to turn into an armed conflict. British troops began to gather along the Saint John River. Governor
John Fairfield John Fairfield (January 30, 1797December 24, 1847) was an attorney and politician from Maine. He served as a U.S. Congressman, governor and U.S. Senator. was born in Pepperellborough, Massachusetts (now Saco, Maine) and attended the schools ...
mobilized the state militia to confront the British in the disputed territory and several
forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
were constructed. The American press clamored for war; "Maine and her soil, or BLOOD!" screamed one editorial. "Let the sword be drawn and the scabbard thrown away!" In June, Congress authorized 50,000 troops and a $10 million budget in the event foreign military troops crossed into United States territory. Van Buren was unwilling to go to war over the disputed territory, though he assured Maine that he would respond to any attacks by the British. To settle the crisis, Van Buren met with the British minister to the United States, and Van Buren and the minister agreed to resolve the border issue diplomatically. Van Buren also sent General Scott to the northern border area, both to show military resolve, and more importantly, to lower the tensions. Scott successfully convinced all sides to submit the border issue to arbitration. The border dispute was put to rest a few years later, with the signing of the 1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty.


''Amistad'' case

The '' Amistad'' case was a freedom suit that involved international issues and parties, as well as United States law, resulting from the rebellion of Africans on board the Spanish schooner '' La Amistad'' in 1839.''United States v. The Amistad''
Findlaw, accessed March 30, 2013
Van Buren viewed abolitionism as the greatest threat to the nation's unity, and he resisted the slightest interference with slavery in the states where it existed. His administration supported the Spanish government's demand that the ship and its cargo (including the Africans) be turned over to them. A federal district court judge ruled that the Africans were legally free and should be transported home, but Van Buren's administration appealed the case to the Supreme Court. In February 1840, former president John Quincy Adams argued passionately for the Africans' right to freedom, and Attorney General
Henry D. Gilpin Henry Dilworth Gilpin (April 14, 1801 – January 29, 1860) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the 14th Attorney General of the United States under President Martin Van Buren from 1840 to 1841. He served as the 2nd Solicitor of ...
presented the government's case. In March 1841, the Supreme Court issued its final verdict: the ''Amistad'' Africans were free people and should be allowed to return home. The unique nature of the case heightened public interest in the saga, including the participation of former president Adams, Africans testifying in federal court, and their representation by prominent lawyers. The ''Amistad'' case drew attention to the personal tragedies of slavery and attracted new support for the growing abolition movement in the North. It also transformed the courts into the principal forum for a national debate on the legal foundations of slavery.


Judicial appointments

Van Buren appointed two Associate Justices to the Supreme Court:
John McKinley John McKinley (May 1, 1780 – July 19, 1852) was a United States Senator from the state of Alabama and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Early life McKinley was born in Culpeper County, Virginia, on May 1, 1 ...
, confirmed September 25, 1837, and Peter Vivian Daniel, confirmed March 2, 1841. He also appointed eight other federal judges, all to
United States district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district co ...
s.


White House hostess

For the first half of his presidency, Van Buren, who had been a widower for many years, did not have a specific person to act as White House hostess at administration social events, but tried to assume such duties himself. When his eldest son
Abraham Van Buren Abraham Van Buren II (November 27, 1807 – March 15, 1873) was the eldest son of Martin Van Buren, the eighth President of the United States and his wife, Hannah Hoes Van Buren. A career soldier and veteran of the Second Seminole War and Mexic ...
married Angelica Singleton in 1838, he quickly acted to install his daughter-in-law as his hostess. She solicited the advice of her distant relative, Dolley Madison, who had moved back to Washington after her husband's death, and soon the president's parties livened up. After the 1839 New Year's Eve reception, '' The Boston Post'' raved: " ngelica Van Buren is alady of rare accomplishments, very modest yet perfectly easy and graceful in her manners and free and vivacious in her conversation ... universally admired." As the nation endured a deep
economic depression An economic depression is a period of carried long-term economical downturn that is result of lowered economic activity in one major or more national economies. Economic depression maybe related to one specific country were there is some economic ...
, Angelica Van Buren's receiving style at receptions was influenced by her heavy reading about European court life (and her naive delight in being received as the ''Queen of the United States'' when she visited the royal courts of England and France after her marriage). Newspaper coverage of this, and the claim that she intended to re-landscape the White House grounds to resemble the royal gardens of Europe, was used in a political attack on her father-in-law by a Pennsylvania Whig Congressman Charles Ogle. He referred obliquely to her as part of the presidential "household" in his famous
Gold Spoon Oration The Gold Spoon Oration, also called "The Regal Splendor of the President's Palace," was a political speech given in the US House of Representatives by Charles Ogle ( Whig- PA) on April 14–16, 1840. The speech reviled then-President Martin Va ...
. The attack was delivered in Congress and the depiction of the president as living a royal lifestyle was a primary factor in his defeat for re-election.


Presidential election of 1840

Van Buren easily won renomination for a second term at the 1840 Democratic National Convention, but he and his party faced a difficult election in 1840. Van Buren's presidency had been a difficult affair, with the U.S. economy mired in a severe downturn, and other divisive issues, such as slavery, western expansion, and tensions with Great Britain, providing opportunities for Van Buren's political opponents—including some of his fellow Democrats—to criticize his actions. Although Van Buren's renomination was never in doubt, Democratic strategists began to question the wisdom of keeping Johnson on the ticket. Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was a liability and insisted on former House Speaker James K. Polk of Tennessee as Van Buren's new running mate. Van Buren was reluctant to drop Johnson, who was popular with workers and radicals in the North and added military experience to the ticket, which might prove important against likely Whig nominee
William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...
. Rather than re-nominating Johnson, the Democratic convention decided to allow state Democratic Party leaders to select the vice-presidential candidates for their states. Van Buren hoped that the Whigs would nominate Clay for president, which would allow Van Buren to cast the 1840 campaign as a clash between Van Buren's Independent Treasury system and Clay's support for a national bank. However, rather than nominating longtime party spokesmen like Clay and Daniel Webster, the 1839 Whig National Convention nominated Harrison, who had served in various governmental positions during his career and had earned fame for his military leadership in the Battle of Tippecanoe and the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
. Whig leaders like William Seward and Thaddeus Stevens believed that Harrison's war record would effectively counter the popular appeals of the Democratic Party. For vice president, the Whigs nominated former Senator John Tyler of Virginia. Clay was deeply disappointed by his defeat at the convention, but he nonetheless threw his support behind Harrison. Whigs presented Harrison as the antithesis of the president, whom they derided as ineffective, corrupt, and effete. Whigs also depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat living in high style in the White House, while they used images of Harrison in a log cabin sipping cider to convince voters that he was a man of the people. They threw such jabs as "Van, Van, is a used-up man" and "Martin Van Ruin" and ridiculed him in newspapers and cartoons. Issues of policy were not absent from the campaign; the Whigs derided the alleged executive overreaches of Jackson and Van Buren, while also calling for a national bank and higher tariffs. Democrats attempted to campaign on the Independent Treasury system, but the onset of deflation undercut these arguments. The enthusiasm for "
Tippecanoe and Tyler Too "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", originally published as "Tip and Ty", was a popular and influential campaign song of the Whig Party's colorful Log Cabin Campaign in the 1840 United States presidential election. Its lyrics sang the praises of Whig ...
", coupled with the country's severe economic crisis, made it impossible for Van Buren to win a second term. Harrison won by a popular vote of 1,275,612 to 1,130,033, and an electoral vote margin of 234 to 60. An astonishing 80% of eligible voters went to the polls on election day. Van Buren actually won more votes than he had in 1836, but the Whig success in attracting new voters more than canceled out Democratic gains. Additionally, Whigs won majorities for the first time in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.


Post-presidency (1841–1862)


Election of 1844

On the expiration of his term, Van Buren returned to his estate of
Lindenwald Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is a unit of the United States National Park Service in Columbia County, New York, south of the village of Kinderhook, north of New York City and south of Albany. The National Historic Site preserv ...
in Kinderhook. He continued to closely watch political developments, including the battle between the Whig alliance of the Great Triumvirate and President John Tyler, who took office after Harrison's death in April 1841. Though undecided on another presidential run, Van Buren made several moves calculated to maintain his support, including a trip to the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
and the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...
during which he met with Jackson, former Speaker of the House James K. Polk, and others. President Tyler,
James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...
, Levi Woodbury, and others loomed as potential challengers for the 1844 Democratic nomination, but it was Calhoun who posed the most formidable obstacle. Van Buren remained silent on major public issues like the debate over the
Tariff of 1842 The Tariff of 1842, or Black Tariff as it became known, was a protectionist tariff schedule adopted in the United States. It reversed the effects of the Compromise Tariff of 1833, which contained a provision that successively lowered the tariff ...
, hoping to arrange for the appearance of a draft movement for his presidential candidacy. Tyler made the annexation of Texas his chief foreign policy goal, and many Democrats, particularly in the South, were anxious to quickly complete it. After an explosion on the killed Secretary of State
Abel P. Upshur Abel Parker Upshur (June 17, 1790 – February 28, 1844) was a lawyer, planter, slaveowner, judge and politician from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Active in Virginia state politics for decades, with a brother and a nephew who became distinguis ...
in February 1844, Tyler brought Calhoun into his cabinet to direct foreign affairs. Like Tyler, Calhoun pursued the annexation of Texas to upend the presidential race and to extend slavery into new territories. Shortly after taking office, Calhoun negotiated an annexation treaty between the United States and Texas. Van Buren had hoped he would not have to take a public stand on annexation, but as the Texas question came to dominate U.S. politics, he decided to make his views on the issue public. Though he believed that his public acceptance of annexation would likely help him win the 1844 Democratic nomination, Van Buren thought that annexation would inevitably lead to an unjust war with Mexico. In a public letter published shortly after Henry Clay also announced his opposition to the annexation treaty, Van Buren articulated his views on the Texas question. Van Buren's opposition to immediate annexation cost him the support of many pro-slavery Democrats. In the weeks before the
1844 Democratic National Convention The 1844 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held in Baltimore, Maryland from May 27 through 30. The convention nominated former Governor James K. Polk of Tennessee for president and former Senator George M. ...
, Van Buren's supporters anticipated that he would win a majority of the delegates on the first presidential ballot, but would not be able to win the support of the required two-thirds of delegates. Van Buren's supporters attempted to prevent the adoption of the two-thirds rule, but several Northern delegates joined with Southern delegates in implementing the two-thirds rule for the 1844 convention. Van Buren won 146 of the 266 votes on the first presidential ballot, with only 12 of his votes coming from Southern states. Senator
Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He w ...
won much of the remaining vote, and he gradually picked up support on subsequent ballots until the convention adjourned for the day. When the convention reconvened and held another ballot, James K. Polk, who shared many of Van Buren's views but favored immediate annexation, won 44 votes. On the ninth ballot, Van Buren's supporters withdrew his name from consideration, and Polk won the nomination. Although angered that his opponents had denied him the nomination, Van Buren endorsed Polk in the interest of party unity. He also convinced Silas Wright to run for Governor of New York so that the popular Wright could help boost Polk in the state. Wright narrowly defeated Whig nominee
Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...
in the 1844 gubernatorial election, and Wright's victory in the state helped Polk narrowly defeat Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election. After taking office, Polk used
George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...
as an intermediary to offer Van Buren the ambassadorship to London. Van Buren declined, partly because he was upset with Polk over the treatment the Van Buren delegates had received at the 1844 convention, and partly because he was content in his retirement. Polk also consulted Van Buren in the formation of his cabinet, but offended Van Buren by offering to appoint a New Yorker only to the lesser post of Secretary of War, rather than as Secretary of State or Secretary of the Treasury. Other patronage decisions also angered Van Buren and Wright, and they became permanently alienated from the Polk administration.


Election of 1848

Though he had previously helped maintain a balance between the Barnburners and Hunkers, the two factions of the New York Democratic Party, Van Buren moved closer to the Barnburners after the 1844 Democratic National Convention. The split in the state party worsened during Polk's presidency, as his administration lavished patronage on the Hunkers. In his retirement, Van Buren also grew increasingly opposed to slavery. As the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
brought the debate over slavery in the territories to the forefront of American politics, Van Buren published an anti-slavery manifesto. In it, he refuted the notion that Congress did not have the power to regulate slavery in the territories, and argued the
Founding Fathers The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
had favored the eventual
abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: *Abolitionism, abolition of slavery * Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment *Abolition of monarchy *Abolition of nuclear weapons *Abolit ...
of slavery. The document, which became known as the "Barnburner Manifesto," was edited at Van Buren's request by John Van Buren and Samuel Tilden, both of whom were leaders of the Barnburner faction. After the publication of the Barnburner Manifesto, many Barnburners urged the former president to seek his old office in the 1848 presidential election. The 1848 Democratic National Convention seated competing Barnburner and Hunker delegations from New York, but the Barnburners walked out of the convention when Lewis Cass, who opposed congressional regulation of slavery in the territories, was nominated on the fourth ballot. In response to the nomination of Cass, the Barnburners began to organize as a
third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a V ...
. At a convention held in June 1848, in
Utica, New York Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the fo ...
, the Barnburners nominated Van Buren for president. Though reluctant to bolt from the Democratic Party, Van Buren accepted the nomination to show the power of the anti-slavery movement, help defeat Cass, and weaken the Hunkers. At a convention held in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
in August 1848, a group of anti-slavery Democrats, Whigs, and members of the abolitionist Liberty Party met in the first national convention of what became known as the Free Soil Party. The convention unanimously nominated Van Buren, and chose Charles Francis Adams as Van Buren's running mate. In a public message accepting the nomination, Van Buren gave his full support for the Wilmot Proviso, a proposed law that would ban slavery in all territories acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. Anti-slavery Whig orator Daniel Webster, in his "Marshfield Speech," expressed skepticism, in terms that may have influenced Whig voters, about the sincerity of Van Buren's espousal of the anti-slavery cause: Van Buren won no electoral votes, but finished second to Whig nominee
Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...
in New York, taking enough votes from Cass to give the state—and perhaps the election—to Taylor. Nationwide, Van Buren won 10.1% of the popular vote, the strongest showing by a third-party presidential nominee up to that point in U.S. history.


Retirement

Van Buren never sought public office again after the 1848 election, but he continued to closely follow national politics. He was deeply troubled by the stirrings of secessionism in the South and welcomed the Compromise of 1850 as a necessary conciliatory measure despite his opposition to the
Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one of the most con ...
. Van Buren also worked on a history of American political parties and embarked on a tour of Europe, becoming the first former American head of state to visit Britain. Though still concerned about slavery, Van Buren and his followers returned to the Democratic fold, partly out of the fear that a continuing Democratic split would help the Whig Party. He also attempted to reconcile the Barnburners and the Hunkers, with mixed results. Van Buren supported
Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. He was a northern Democrat who believed that the abolitionist movement was a fundamental threat to the nation's unity ...
for president in 1852, James Buchanan in
1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voya ...
, and Stephen A. Douglas in
1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusetts ...
. Van Buren viewed the fledgling Know Nothing movement with contempt and felt that the anti-slavery
Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...
exacerbated sectional tensions. He considered Chief Justice
Roger Taney Roger Brooke Taney (; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was the fifth chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. Although an opponent of slavery, believing it to be an evil practice, Taney belie ...
's ruling in the 1857 case of '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' to be a "grievous mistake" since it overturned the
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...
. He believed that the Buchanan administration handled the issue of Bleeding Kansas poorly, and saw the Lecompton Constitution as a sop to Southern extremists. After the election of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
and the secession of several Southern states in 1860, Van Buren unsuccessfully sought to call a constitutional convention. In April 1861, former president Pierce wrote to the other living former presidents and asked them to consider meeting to use their stature and influence to propose a negotiated end to the war. Pierce asked Van Buren to use his role as the senior living ex-president to issue a formal call. Van Buren's reply suggested that Buchanan should be the one to call the meeting, since he was the former president who had served most recently, or that Pierce should issue the call himself if he strongly believed in the merit of his proposal. Neither Buchanan nor Pierce was willing to make Pierce's proposal public, and nothing more resulted from it. Once the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
began, Van Buren made public his support for the Union.


Death

Van Buren's health began to fail later in 1861, and he was bedridden with
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
during the fall and winter of 1861–1862. He died of bronchial
asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...
and heart failure at his Lindenwald estate at 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 24, 1862. He was 79 years old. He is buried in the Kinderhook Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery, as are his wife Hannah, his parents, and his son Martin Van Buren Jr. Van Buren outlived all four of his immediate successors: Harrison, Tyler, Polk, and Taylor. In addition, he saw more successors ascend to the presidency than anyone else (eight), living to see Abraham Lincoln elected as the 16th President before his death.


Legacy


Historical reputation

Van Buren's most lasting achievement was as a political organizer who built the Democratic Party and guided it to dominance in the
Second Party System Historians and political scientists use Second Party System to periodize the political party system operating in the United States from about 1828 to 1852, after the First Party System ended. The system was characterized by rapidly rising levels ...
, and historians have come to regard Van Buren as integral to the development of the American political system. According to historian
Robert V. Remini Robert Vincent Remini (July 17, 1921 – March 28, 2013) was an American historian and a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He wrote numerous books about President Andrew Jackson and the Jacksonian era, most notably a th ...
:
Van Buren's creative contribution to the political development of the nation was enormous, and as such he earned his way to the presidency. After gaining control of New York's Republican Party he organized the Albany Regency to run the state in his absence while he pursued a national career in Washington. The Regency was a governing consul in Albany consisting of a group of politically astute and highly intelligent men. He was one of the first statewide political machines in the country was success resulted from its professional use of patronage, the legislative caucus, and the official party newspaper..... n Washingtonhe labored to bring about the reorganization of the Republican Party through an alliance between what he called "the planters of the South and the plain Republicans of the North."... is Democraticemphasized the importance of building popular majorities and it perfected political techniques which would appeal to the masses....Heretofore parties were regarded as evils to be tolerated; Van Buren argued that the party system was the most sensible and intelligent way the affairs of the nation could be democratically conducted, a viewpoint that eventually won national approval.
However, his presidency is considered to be average, at best, by historians. He was blamed for the Panic of 1837 and defeated for reelection. His tenure was dominated by the economic conditions caused by the panic, and historians have split on the adequacy of the Independent Treasury as a response. Some historians disagree with these negative assessments. For example,
Ivan Eland Ivan Eland (; born February 23, 1958) is an American defense analyst and writer. He is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace and Liberty at the Independent Institute. Eland's writings generally propose libertarian and non-interventio ...
in his book '' Recarving Rushmore'', ranked Van Buren as the third greatest president in American history. He argues that Van Buren allowed the market to readjust fairly quickly after the Panic of 1837, reduced
government spending Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual ...
, balanced the budget, and avoided potential wars with Canada and Mexico. Historian Jeffrey Rogers Hummel states that Van Buren was America's greatest president, arguing that "historians have grossly underrated his many remarkable accomplishments in the face of heavy odds". Several writers have portrayed Van Buren as among the nation's most obscure presidents. As noted in a 2014 ''Time'' magazine article on the "Top 10 Forgettable Presidents":


Memorials

Van Buren's home in Kinderhook, New York, which he called Lindenwald, is now the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. Counties are named for Van Buren in
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
,
Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
, and
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...
. Mount Van Buren, , three state parks and numerous towns were named after him.


Popular culture


Books

In the Gore Vidal novel '' Burr'', a major plot theme is an attempt to prevent Van Buren's election as president by proving he is the illegitimate son of Aaron Burr.


Cartoons

During the 1988 presidential campaign, George H. W. Bush, a
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
graduate and member of the Skull and Bones secret society, was attempting to become the first incumbent vice president to win election to the presidency since Van Buren. In the comic strip ''
Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...
'', artist
Garry Trudeau Garretson Beekman Trudeau (born July 21, 1948) is an American cartoonist, best known for creating the ''Doonesbury'' comic strip. Trudeau is also the creator and executive producer of the Amazon Studios political comedy series '' Alpha House' ...
depicted members of Skull and Bones as attempting to rob Van Buren's grave, apparently intending to use the relics in a ritual that would aid Bush in the election.


Currency

Martin Van Buren appeared in the
Presidential dollar coins Presidential dollar coins (authorized by ) are a series of United States dollar coins with engravings of relief portraits of U.S. presidents on the obverse and the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World'') on the reverse. From 2007 ...
series in 2008. The U.S. Mint has also made commemorative silver medals for Van Buren, released for sale on February 1, 2021.


Film and TV

Van Buren is portrayed by Nigel Hawthorne in the 1997 film ''Amistad''. The film depicts the legal battle surrounding the status of slaves who in 1839 rebelled against their transporters on '' La Amistad'' slave ship. On the television show '' Seinfeld'', the episode "
The Van Buren Boys "The Van Buren Boys" is the 148th episode of the sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the 14th episode for the 8th season, originally airing on February 6, 1997. In this episode, everyone is convinced Jerry's new girlfriend is a loser, Elaine ghostwrite ...
" is about a fictional street gang that admires Van Buren and bases its rituals and symbols on him, including the hand sign of eight fingers pointing up. In an episode of ''The Monkees'', "Dance, Monkee, Dance", a dance instruction studio offers free lessons to anyone who can answer the question, "Who was the eighth President of the United States?" Martin Van Buren, portrayed by Stephen Coit, appears at the studio to claim the prize.


Music

At least two bands have incorporated Van Buren as part of their name: the Illinois-based The Van Buren Boys and The Van Burens from Quincy, Massachusetts.


See also

* American election campaigns in the 19th century * 1836 United States presidential election * 1840 United States presidential election *
Charlotte Dupuy Charlotte Dupuy, also called Lottie (),
, Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum of Lexington, Kentucky.
Charlotte Du ...
, a slave who worked for Van Buren at Decatur House, while her suit for freedom against Henry Clay proceeded * The Panic of 1837 *
List of presidents of the United States The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government a ...
* List of presidents of the United States by previous experience * List of presidents of the United States who owned slaves * Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps *
Papers of Martin Van Buren The Papers of Martin Van Buren is an ongoing project that is making available to the public all the surviving letters, papers, and other documents from eighth President Martin Van Buren’s lifetime. The project was originally founded in 1969 at P ...
*
Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
, President when Van Buren was Vice President


Notes


References


Sources

* *
online
* * * *
online
* * * * *


Further reading

* * * Ceaser, James W. "III. Martin Van Buren and the Case for Electoral Restraint." in ''Presidential Selection'' (Princeton University Press, 2020). 123–169. * * Curtis, James C. "In the Shadow of Old Hickory: The Political Travail of Martin Van Buren." ''Journal of the Early Republic'' 1.3 (1981): 249-26
online
* * Duncan, Jason K. "" Plain Catholics of the North": Martin Van Buren and the Politics of Religion, 1807–1836." ''U.S. Catholic Historian'' 38.1 (2020): 25-48. * * * Lucas, M. Philip. "Martin Van Buren as Party Leader and at Andrew Jackson's Right Hand." in ''A Companion to the Antebellum Presidents 1837–1861'' (2014): 107-129 * * McBride, Spencer W. "When Joseph Smith Met Martin Van Buren: Mormonism and the Politics of Religious Liberty in Nineteenth-Century America." ''Church History'' 85.1 (2016). * * Mushkat, Jerome. ''Martin Van Buren : law, politics, and the shaping of Republican ideology'' (1997
online
* * Remini, Robert V. "The Albany Regency." ''New York History'' 39.4 (1958): 341+. * * * * *


Books by Van Buren

* *


External links


White House biography
*
Martin Van Buren: A Resource Guide
at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

The Papers of Martin Van Buren
at
Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberlan ...

The American Presidency Project – The Papers of Martin Van Buren
(Online Collection) at
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

American President: Martin Van Buren (1782–1862)
at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia
Inaugural Address (March 4, 1837)
at the Miller Center
Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (Lindenwald)
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

"Life Portrait of Martin Van Buren"
from
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
's '' American Presidents: Life Portraits'', May 3, 1999 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Buren, Martin * 1782 births 1862 deaths 18th-century American people 18th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century vice presidents of the United States 19th-century Calvinist and Reformed Christians 19th-century presidents of the United States 1820 United States presidential electors 1824 United States vice-presidential candidates 1832 United States vice-presidential candidates Candidates in the 1836 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1840 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1844 United States presidential election Candidates in the 1848 United States presidential election Ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law American abolitionists American members of the Dutch Reformed Church American people of Dutch descent American political party founders American slave owners Burials in New York (state) Claverack College alumni Respiratory disease deaths in New York (state) Deaths from asthma Democratic Party presidents of the United States Democratic Party governors of New York (state) Democratic Party (United States) presidential nominees Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Democratic Party United States senators from New York (state) Democratic Party vice presidents of the United States Democratic-Republican Party United States senators Governors of New York (state) Jackson administration cabinet members Leaders of Tammany Hall New York State Attorneys General New York (state) Democratic-Republicans New York (state) Democrats New York (state) Free Soilers New York (state) lawyers New York (state) state senators People from Kinderhook, New York Presidents of the United States Reformed Church in America members United States Secretaries of State
Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...
Vice presidents of the United States United States senators who owned slaves