Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren | |
|---|---|
| 8th President of the United States | |
| In office March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841 | |
| Vice President | Richard Mentor Johnson |
| Preceded by | Andrew Jackson |
| Succeeded by | William Henry Harrison |
| 8th Vice President of the United States | |
| In office March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1837 | |
| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | John C. Calhoun |
| Succeeded by | Richard Mentor Johnson |
| 10th United States Secretary of State | |
| In office March 28, 1829 – May 23, 1831 | |
| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | Henry Clay |
| Succeeded by | Edward Livingston |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 5, 1782 Kinderhook, New York, USA |
| Died | July 24, 1862 (aged 79) Kinderhook, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican, Democratic, and Free Soil |
| Spouse(s) | Widowed Hannah Van Buren (daughter-in-law Angelica Van Buren was first lady) |
| Children | Abraham Van Buren John Van Buren Martin Van Buren (1812–55) Smith Thompson Van Buren |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Signature | |
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.[1]
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.[1] 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."[2]
Van Burenwas the first president to have been born an American citizen[3] since all of those before him had been born British subjects before the American Revolution.[4]
Van Buren lost the 1840 presidential election to the Whig Party's William Henry Harrison.[1] In 1848, he ran again for president as a part of the Free Soil Party but lost.[1] Van Buren died on July 24, 1862 of heart failure after suffering from an asthma attack on his Lindenwald estate in Kinderhook.
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.[5] His father, Abraham Van Buren, was a farmer and a tavern owner.[6] His mother was Maria Hoes Van Buren, the granddaughter of a Dutch immigrant.[7]
Martin went to school at the village's Kinderhook Academy, where he was excellent in English and Latin.[8] He left the school when he was 14 years old.[9][10]
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.[11]
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.[12]
Five years later, Van Buren became the surrogate (legal officer) of Columbia County.[9][13] 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
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 was the vice president while Jackson remained the president. Van Buren was also a leading member of the Demoicratic-Republican Party and gained much voting support by the Free Soil Party.
Just a few months 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.[14] Even though the crisis was probably Jackson's fault, many people blamed Van Buren for the economy becoming worse, which made him less popular. He earned the nicknames "Little Magician" and the "Red Fox" for his cunning politics.
Personal life
Van Buren married his cousin Hannah Hoes on February 21, 1807.[9] They had five children together: Abraham, John, Martin Jr., Smith, and Winfield Scott.
Later life
After his presidency, Van Buren remained active in politics. He outlived the four presidents who came after him. In 1848, Van Buren ran for president again for the Free Soil Party but lost that year's election. He remained critical of many things like the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. He supported for president Franklin Pierce in 1852, 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.[15]
Van Buren developed pneumonia in the fall of 1861 at the age of 78,[16] which made him bedridden. In July, 1862, He had a serious asthma attack and began to weaken.[17] He died on July 24, 1862 at his home in Kinderhook, New York, of heart failure[12] at the age of 79 .
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Martin Van Buren | The White House". whitehouse.gov. 2011 [last update]. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ↑ Ryan, Erica (July 20, 2013). "5 Memorable Nicknames and the Politicians They Stuck To". NPR. Retrieved September 30, 2024.
- ↑ NARA.gov Archived 2014-03-10 at the Wayback Machine, Martin Van Buren
- ↑ "Martin van Buren". Archived from the original on 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
- ↑ Jewell, Elizabeth (2005). U.S. presidents factbook. Random House Digital, Inc. ISBN 0375720731. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ↑ Buttre, Lillian C. (1877). The American portrait gallery. J.C. Buttre. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ↑ Waldrup, Carole Chandler (2004). More Colonial women: 25 pioneers of early America. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786418397. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ↑ "Martin Van Buren--Reading 1". nps.gov. 2009 [last update]. Archived from the original on September 26, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lazo, Caroline Evensen (2005). Martin Van Buren. Presidential leaders. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 9780822513940. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
- ↑ Quackenbos, George Payn (1864). Illustrated school history of the United States and the adjacent parts of America. D. Appleton & Company. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ↑ "Martin Van Buren". nnp.org. 2009 [last update]. Archived from the original on April 23, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Shepard, Edward Morse (1888). Martin Van Buren. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
- ↑ "VAN BUREN, Martin - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. 2011 [last update]. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
- ↑ "Digital History". digitalhistory.uh.edu. 2011 [last update]. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved April 9, 2011.
- ↑ Niven, John (1983). Martin Van Buren: The Romantic Age of American Politics. New York, New York. p. 760. ISBN 978-0-945707-25-7. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Lamb, Brian; C-SPAN (2010). Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?: A Tour of Presidential Gravesites. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1586488697. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
- ↑ Doak, Robin Santos (2003). Martin Van Buren. Compass Point Books. ISBN 075650256X. Retrieved April 3, 2011.