| Martin Van Buren Sr. was the President of the United States. Join: US Presidents Project Discuss: presidents |
Preceded by 7th President Andrew Jackson Preceded by 7th Vice President John Calhoun Sr Preceded by Acting Secretary James Alexander Hamilton Preceded by 8th Governor Nathaniel Pitcher Preceded by Nathan Sanford |
Martin Van Buren 8th President of the United States1837—1841 8th Vice President of the United States1833—1837 10th United States Secretary of State1829—1831 9th Governor of New York1828 US Senator (Class 1) from New York1821—1828 |
Succeeded by 9th President William Henry Harrison Succeeded by 9th Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson Succeeded by 11th Secretary Edward Livingston Succeeded by 10th Governor Enos T. Throop Succeeded by Charles E. Dudley |
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Martin Van Buren (Dutch: Maarten van Buren) was the eighth President of the United States (1837–1841). Van Buren was a key organizer of the Democratic Party, a dominant figure in the Second Party System, and the first president not of British or Irish descent — his family was Dutch. He was the first president to be born a United States citizen, his predecessors having been born British subjects before the American Revolution. He is also the only president not to have spoken English as his first language, having grown up speaking Dutch, and the first president from New York.
1782 Birth | 1807 Marriage | 1807 1st Child | 1837-1841 President | 1862 Death |
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Van Buren joined the opposition party in 1813, and was a member of the New York State Senate from 1812 to 1820, and New York Attorney General from 1815 to 1819. He was a presidential elector in 1820, voting for James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins.
Van Buren was the first president born a citizen of the United States[5], as all previous presidents were born before the American Revolution. His great-great-great-grandfather Cornelis Maessen van Buren had come to the New World in 1631 from the small city of Buren, Dutch Republic, in present day Netherlands. Van Buren grew up in a Dutch-speaking community. His native language was Dutch, and he was the only President who spoke English as a second language.
In 1817 Van Buren's connection with so-called "machine politics" started. He created the first political machine encompassing all of New York, the Bucktails[6], whose leaders later became known as the Albany Regency. The Bucktails became a successful movement that emphasized party loyalty; they captured and controlled many patronage posts throughout New York. Van Buren did not originate the system, but gained the nickname of "Little Magician" for the skill with which he exploited it. He also served as a member of the state constitutional convention, where he opposed the grant of universal suffrage and tried to maintain property requirements for voting.
As Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and then Vice President, Van Buren was a key figure in building the organizational structure for Jacksonian democracy, particularly in New York State. As president, he did not want the United States to annex Texas, an act which John Tyler would achieve eight years after Van Buren's initial rejection. Between the bloodless Aroostook War and the Caroline Affair, relations with Britain and its colonies in Canada also proved to be strained. Read more on Wikipedia here
His administration was largely characterized by the economic hardship of his time, the Panic of 1837. He was scapegoated for the depression and called "Martin Van Ruin" by his political opponents. Van Buren was voted out of office after four years, losing to Whig candidate William Henry Harrison.
Use the WikiTree Widget to see Martin Van Buren's most distant ancestors.
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