Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren made the most of his modest upbringing and poor education. Serving as a U.S. senator, secretary of state, and vice president before assuming the presidency, he carried on the strong tradition of democracy that had been established by his political patron, Andrew Jackson (1767–1845; served 1828–37).

Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782, and raised in Kinderhook, a small New York town, in a respected Dutch American family. As a child he was often called away from the crude village schoolhouse to work on the family's farm or in his father's tavern. At the age of fourteen he went to work as an apprentice to one of the town's lawyers. He was admitted to the bar in 1803, and began a highly successful law practice.

Van Buren's father's tavern had been a gathering place for Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans , people who, like President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; served 1801–09), believed in a farming society and feared a strong central government. From his early days, Van Buren opposed the forces of change that were transforming the agrarian (farming) society into an industrial one. He fought against the privileges of the elite, particularly politicians who came from rich and powerful families. His law practice often defended the interests of local farmers and merchants in land and contract disputes against the landed gentry, who were typically members of the Federalist Party .

Builds a political machine

In 1812 Van Buren was elected to the New York state senate. Around that time, the Democratic-Republican party had split into two factions.

Van Buren became the leader of one faction, popularly known as the Bucktails; with this group's support he won the post of state attorney general in 1815. In this position he helped build the Albany Regency, which is considered the first modern political machine, a network of high-ranking politicians who make appointments and grant favors in return for political support rather than merit and use their collective power to defeat the efforts of political rivals. Van Buren saw the party as a means of access to power that had once been reserved for the elite.

Jackson supporter

Van Buren won election to the U.S. Senate in 1821 and remained in that post for the next seven years. The election of 1824 brought John Quincy Adams (1767–1848; served 1825–29) into the White House even though military hero Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) had won the popular vote. Van Buren, a staunch supporter of Jackson, actively opposed the Adams administration. To attract Southern support, he spoke out for states' rights and against the idea of strong national government advocated by Adams. Working closely with others, he fashioned a North-South coalition behind Jackson in the election of 1828. Van Buren ran for governor of New York as Jackson campaigned for the presidency. Both won their elections. After three months as governor, Van Buren resigned and joined Jackson in Washington.

During Jackson's presidency (1829–37), Van Buren served in turn as secretary of state, minister to England, and vice president for the second term. He was one of Jackson's most trusted advisors.

Follows Jackson to the presidency

With Jackson's support, Van Buren received the party's nomination for president and won the election of 1836. During his one term in office, Van Buren worked to contain the growing tensions between the North and the South over slavery. He prevailed on Southern Democrats to give up their desire to bring slaveholding Texas into the Union .

Van Buren, like Jackson, distrusted national banks, thinking they favored the wealthy industrialists and gave the central government too much power. During the previous administration, Jackson had crushed the national bank and deposited government revenues in selected state banks. Van Buren had just taken office when the resulting economic collapse hit. He pushed through Congress a measure for an independent Treasury, which would separate Treasury operations from all private banks. His position was unpopular even within his own party and detested by the Whigs , a party that rose in opposition to Jackson. The Whigs nominated General William Henry Harrison (1773–1841; served 1841) for the presidential election of 1840, and he soundly defeated Van Buren.

Van Buren kept trying to regain the presidency. Because of his opposition to the issue of Texas annexation (admission to the Union) and the spread of slavery, the Southerners of the Democratic Party denied him the party nomination in 1844. In 1848, Van Buren agreed to stand as the candidate of the Free Soil Party on a platform of opposing the spread of slavery. Within two years, however, he returned to his old Democratic Party. Even though it remained strongly pro-Southern throughout the 1850s, he still believed strongly in the party's states' rights doctrine. He retired from the active political life and died on July 24, 1862, in Kinderhook.