Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren (December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States. 

Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York, in 1782. Van Buren studied law by working for the lawyer Francis Sylvester and in 1803 became a lawyer himself. In 1821, he was elected as a member of the US Senate to represent New York.

US President Andrew Jackson selected him as the Secretary of State in 1827. In 1832, Van Buren was elected Jackson's vice president, and in 1836, he was elected president. During most of his presidency, the economy was in very bad shape, and he got the blame. In fact, his critics called him "Martin Van Ruin."

Van Buren was the first president to have been born an American citizenNARA.gov , Martin Van Buren since all of those before him had been born British subjects before the American Revolution.

Van Buren lost the 1840 presidential election to the Whig Party's nominee, William Henry Harrison. In 1848, he ran again for president as a part of the Free Soil Party, but lost. Van Buren died on July 24, 1862 of heart failure after suffering from an asthma attack on his Lindenwald estate in Kinderhook. Historians often view Van Buren as a successful politician, but an ineffective presidency.

Early life and career
Martin Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York, south of Albany. He was the third of five children. His father, Abraham Van Buren, was a farmer and a tavern owner. His mother was Maria Hoes Van Buren, the granddaughter of a Dutch immigrant. He is the only U.S. President who's first language was not English, but instead Dutch.

Martin went to school at the village's Kinderhook Academy, where he was excellent in English and Latin. He left the school when he was 14 years old.

In 1796, Van Buren started working in the law office of Francis Sylvester, a lawyer that worked in Kinderhook. Van Buren kept the office clean, copied documents, and did other jobs. While he was working there, he learned about law.

After six years under Sylvester, Van Bure spent a final year of apprenticeship in the New York City office of the lawyer William Peter Van Ness. Van Buren passed the New York State Bar Exam in 1803 and became a lawyer.

After becoming a lawyer, Van Buren moved back to Kinderhook to work as an attorney with his half-brother, James J. Van Alen, in 1803.

Five years later, Van Buren became the surrogate (legal officer) of Columbia County. There was no fixed term of office, and he would be there until the opposition party elected someone else to replace. Van Buren held the office about five years until he was removed on March 19, 1813.

Political career and presidency
Van Buren represented New York in the Senate from 1821 to 1828. He left the Senate when he was elected as governor of New York in 1828. On March 5, 1829, after Van Buren became governor, President Andrew Jackson made Van Buren the Secretary of State, and so Van Buren was the governor only for two months.

From 1833 to 1837, he served as vice president, under Andrew Jackson, he succeeded John C. Calhoun, as he had resigned during Jackson's first term. Van Buren was also a leading member of the Democratic Party.

Just weeks after Van Buren became president in 1837, there was a financial crisis. Van Buren believed in limited government and did not respond to the Panic of 1837 in the way that many people wanted. Although it was Jackson's policies that were major factors that led to the economic crisis, many people blamed Van Buren for the economy worsening under his administration, in which his popularity declined. He earned the nicknames "Little Magician" and the "Red Fox" for his cunning politics. Despite Van Buren's poor foreign policy, his post-presidency is often regarded as successful, as he had committed to neutrality, avoiding conflicts with Mexico by opposing the annexation of the Republic of Texas, and resolved a border dispute with Great Britain, avoiding potential for war with the British. Due to his low popularity while in office, he would later lose the 1840 election to Whig candidate William Henry Harrison.

Personal life
Van Buren married his cousin Hannah Hoes on February 21, 1807. They had five children together: Abraham II, John, Martin Jr., Smith, and Winfield Scott.

 Stance on slavery 
Van Buren had described slavery as a "moral evil".

Early in life, his father had owned six slaves. Van Buren himself ever only held one personal slave, Tom, who escaped in 1814, Van Buren did not attempt looking for him. During his tenure, his views on slavery were heavily complex, he refused abolishing slavery in states that had allowed it. He opposed the annexation of the newly independent Texas during his presidency to avoid war with Mexico and his personal views on slavery, as annexing Texas would have further influenced slavery across the Union.

During his post-presidency, Van Buren would leave the Democratic Party and would found the Free Soil Party, which focused on opposing annexation and influence of slavery across western territories of the United States. Van Buren would run for this party in the 1848 election as a third-party candidate.

More info on Van Buren's reelection attempt can be seen below.

Later life
After his presidency, Van Buren remained active in politics. He outlived the four presidents who came after him. In 1844, he had sought the Democratic nomination for that year's presidential election, but had lost to James K. Polk, mainly due to his views of the annexation of Texas. In the 1848 election, Van Buren ran for president once again for the Free Soil Party, however, he lost with zero electoral votes, and a small portion of the popular vote. However, his run in the aforementioned election allowed for Whig candidate Zachary Taylor to beat Democratic candidate Lewis Cass. Following his loss, Van Buren would resign from active politics. He remained critical of many things like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. In 1852, he would return to the Democratic Party and later supported presidential candidates Franklin Pierce that same year, James Buchanan in 1856, and Stephen A. Douglas in 1860.

As the American Civil War began in 1861, Pierce, a former president, told Van Buren to organize a meeting with all of the former presidents to try to find a solution. However, Van Buren said that Buchanan or Pierce should do it, but no one did. Van Buren supported the Union Army during the war.

Van Buren developed pneumonia in the fall of 1861 at the age of 78, which made him bedridden. In July, 1862, He had a serious asthma attack and began to weaken. He died on July 24, 1862 at his home in Kinderhook, New York, of heart failure at the age of 79.

References

Category:1782 births
Category:1862 deaths
Category:American Calvinists
Category:New York State attorneys general
Category:Deaths from asthma
Category:Deaths from heart failure
Category:Governors of New York (state)

Category:Presidents of the United States
Category:United States Secretaries of State
Category:United States senators from New York (state)
Category:Democratic Party (United States) politicians
Category:19th-century American politicians
Category:Vice presidents of the United States
Category:19th-century presidents of the United States