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  Van Buren, Martin
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
<-  1855-01-01  
 
NameMartin Van Buren
Address
Kinderhook, New York , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born December 05, 1782
DiedJuly 24, 1862 (79 years)
ContributorRalphie
Last ModifedNJLBT
Feb 17, 2021 05:06pm
Tags Dutch - Christian - Protestant -
InfoOnly about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren dressed fastidiously. His impeccable appearance belied his amiability–and his humble background. Of Dutch descent, he was born in 1782, the son of a tavernkeeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York.

As a young lawyer he became involved in New York politics. As leader of the “Albany Regency,” an effective New York political organization, he shrewdly dispensed public offices and bounty in a fashion calculated to bring votes. Yet he faithfully fulfilled official duties, and in 1821 was elected to the United States Senate.

By 1827 he had emerged as the principal northern leader for Andrew Jackson. President Jackson rewarded Van Buren by appointing him Secretary of State. As the Cabinet Members appointed at John C. Calhoun’s recommendation began to demonstrate only secondary loyalty to Jackson, Van Buren emerged as the President’s most trusted adviser. Jackson referred to him as, “a true man with no guile.”

The rift in the Cabinet became serious because of Jackson’s differences with Calhoun, a Presidential aspirant. Van Buren suggested a way out of an eventual impasse: he and Secretary of War Eaton resigned, so that Calhoun men would also resign. Jackson appointed a new Cabinet, and sought again to reward Van Buren by appointing him Minister to Great Britain. Vice President Calhoun, as President of the Senate, cast the deciding vote against the appointment–and made a martyr of Van Buren.

The “Little Magician” was elected Vice President on the Jacksonian ticket in 1832, and won the Presidency in 1836.

Van Buren devoted his Inaugural Address to a discourse upon the American experiment as an example to the rest of the world. The country was prosperous, but less than three months later the panic of 1837 punctured the prosperity.

Basically, the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of “boom and bust,” which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson’s financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased with hard money–gold or silver.

In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands. For about five years the United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its history.

Programs applied decades later to alleviate economic crisis eluded both Van Buren and his opponents. Van Buren’s remedy–continuing Jackson’s deflationary policies–only deepened and prolonged the depression.

Declaring that the panic was due to recklessness in business and overexpansion of credit, Van Buren devoted himself to maintaining the solvency of the national Government. He opposed not only the creation of a new Bank of the United States but also the placing of Government funds in state banks. He fought for the establishment of an independent treasury system to handle Government transactions. As for Federal aid to internal improvements, he cut off expenditures so completely that the Government even sold the tools it had used on public works.

Inclined more and more to oppose the expansion of slavery, Van Buren blocked the annexation of Texas because it assuredly would add to slave territory–and it might bring war with Mexico.

Defeated by the Whigs in 1840 for reelection, he was an unsuccessful candidate for President on the Free Soil ticket in 1848. He died in 1862.

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JOB APPROVAL POLLS
DateFirmApproveDisapproveDon't Know
06/13/2007-06/24/2007 Rasmussen Reports 23.00% ( 0.0) 19.00% ( 0.0) 58.00% ( 0.0)

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor
Inquiry into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States  Purchase Jake 

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Oct 10, 1999 11:00am Minority Perspective Martin Van Buren: The Greatest American President  Article J.R. 

DISCUSSION
Importance? 9.44440 Average

FAMILY
Wife Hannah Hoes Van Buren 00, 1807-Feb 05, 1819
Son Abraham Van Buren 1807-1873
Son John Van Buren 1810-1866
Son Martin "Mat" Van Buren, Jr. 1812-1855
Son Smith Thompson Van Buren 1817-1876
Mother Maria Hoes Van Alen Van Buren 1747-1819
Brother James I. Van Alen 1776-1870

INFORMATION LINKS
Martin Van Buren - First Annual Message to Congress (December 5, 1837)  Discuss
Martin Van Buren - Fourth Annual Message to Congress (December 5, 1840)  Discuss
Martin Van Buren - Proclamation (January 5, 1838)  Discuss
Martin Van Buren - Second Annual Message to Congress (December 3, 1838)  Discuss
Martin Van Buren - Special Message (January 2, 1841)  Discuss
Martin Van Buren - Special Session Message (September 4, 1837)  Discuss
Martin Van Buren - Third Annual Message to Congress (December 2, 1839)  Discuss
President Martin Van Buren Inaugural Address March 4, 1837  Discuss
RACES
  12/06/1848 US President Lost 0.00% (-56.21%)
  11/07/1848 US President National Vote Lost 10.12% (-37.16%)
  08/10/1848 US President - FS Convention #2 Won 52.25% (+13.06%)
  06/22/1848 US President - FS Convention #1 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  05/30/1844 US President - D Convention Lost 24.01% (-19.74%)
  12/02/1840 US President Lost 20.41% (-59.18%)
  11/30/1840 SC US President Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/19/1840 US President National Vote Lost 46.81% (-6.08%)
  11/19/1840 TN US President Lost 44.34% (-11.32%)
  11/19/1840 VT US President Lost 35.46% (-28.42%)
  11/13/1840 RI US President Lost 37.81% (-22.59%)
  11/12/1840 NC US President Lost 42.32% (-15.36%)
  11/10/1840 ME US President Lost 49.67% (-0.44%)
  11/10/1840 DE US President Lost 44.89% (-10.09%)
  11/09/1840 AL US President Won 54.38% (+8.77%)
  11/09/1840 MA US President Lost 41.09% (-16.54%)
  11/04/1840 NJ US President Lost 48.15% (-3.59%)
  11/04/1840 NY US President Lost 48.18% (-3.00%)
  11/03/1840 LA US President Lost 40.27% (-19.46%)
  11/02/1840 AR US President Won 56.42% (+12.83%)
  11/02/1840 CT US President Lost 44.40% (-11.09%)
  11/02/1840 MI US President Lost 47.57% (-4.14%)
  11/02/1840 MD US President Lost 46.17% (-7.66%)
  11/02/1840 GA US President Lost 44.22% (-11.55%)
  11/02/1840 MS US President Lost 46.57% (-6.86%)
  11/02/1840 VA US President Won 50.65% (+1.30%)
  11/02/1840 IL US President Won 50.92% (+2.00%)
  11/02/1840 MO US President Won 56.32% (+12.63%)
  11/02/1840 IN US President Lost 44.18% (-11.61%)
  11/02/1840 NH US President Won 54.66% (+10.78%)
  11/02/1840 KY US President Lost 35.80% (-28.40%)
  10/30/1840 PA US President Lost 49.90% (-0.08%)
  10/30/1840 OH US President Lost 45.57% (-8.54%)
  05/07/1840 US President - D Convention Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/07/1836 US President Won 57.82% (+32.99%)
  11/23/1836 US President National Vote Won 50.83% (+14.19%)
  11/23/1836 RI US President Won 52.21% (+4.44%)
  11/17/1836 NJ US President Lost 49.47% (-1.05%)
  11/17/1836 TN US President Lost 42.08% (-15.85%)
  11/15/1836 VT US President Lost 40.00% (-19.81%)
  11/14/1836 AL US President Won 55.34% (+10.67%)
  11/14/1836 MA US President Lost 45.62% (-8.71%)
  11/10/1836 NC US President Won 53.41% (+6.81%)
  11/07/1836 CT US President Won 50.65% (+1.30%)
  11/07/1836 KY US President Lost 47.50% (-5.00%)
  11/07/1836 NY US President Won 54.63% (+9.25%)
  11/07/1836 ME US President Won 58.44% (+19.70%)
  11/07/1836 MD US President Lost 46.28% (-7.45%)
  11/07/1836 DE US President Lost 46.70% (-6.54%)
  11/07/1836 GA US President Lost 48.20% (-3.60%)
  11/07/1836 MS US President Won 51.26% (+2.53%)
  11/07/1836 VA US President Won 56.65% (+13.30%)
  11/07/1836 IL US President Won 54.69% (+9.38%)
  11/07/1836 MO US President Won 59.55% (+19.10%)
  11/07/1836 IN US President Lost 44.45% (-11.09%)
  11/07/1836 NH US President Won 75.01% (+50.03%)
  11/04/1836 PA US President Won 51.18% (+2.37%)
  11/04/1836 OH US President Lost 47.90% (-4.20%)
  11/02/1836 MI US President Won 64.49% (+28.99%)
  11/01/1836 AR US President Won 64.08% (+28.16%)
  11/01/1836 LA US President Won 51.74% (+3.49%)
  02/24/1836 VT US President - AM Convention Lost 15.43% (-44.00%)
  05/22/1835 US President - D Convention Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/06/1832 US Vice President Won 66.08% (+48.95%)
  05/23/1832 US Vice President - D Convention Won 73.50% (+56.18%)
  01/25/1832 US Ambassador to United Kingdom Lost 0.00% (-100.00%)
  08/01/1831 US Ambassador to United Kingdom Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  03/06/1829 US Secretary of State Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/04/1828 NY Governor Won 49.46% (+10.97%)
  02/06/1827 NY US Senate Won 71.92% (+60.27%)
  05/20/1826 President Pro Tempore Lost 7.84% (-33.33%)
  11/02/1824 US Vice President Lost 3.46% (-66.54%)
  01/06/1821 NY US Senate Won 58.28% (+16.56%)
ENDORSEMENTS
US President - Dec 05, 1860 D Stephen A. Douglas
US Secretary of State - Mar 07, 1825 W Henry Clay
NY US President - Nov 01, 1824 DR William Harris Crawford