Martin Van Buren was born into a modest Dutch household in 1782. Therefore, he was the first President to be born a U.S. Citizen and not a British subject. Being Dutch, he was also the first President not of British ancestory. He is also our only President that English wasn’t his first language, he grew up speaking Dutch (Wait just a second, you mean to tell me he wouldn’t have been able to “press 1 for English”????). His education was limited, but as a young teenager he started to apprentice and read law with a prestigious law office in his hometown of Kinderhook, New York. After working with several big-time attorneys in New York, Van Buren met many political leaders involved in New York state politics. From this point on his political career was born.

After starting his own law practice, Martin Van Buren became financially secure enough to focus his attention to the political sphere. He also married his childhood sweetheart, and the daughter of his first cousin (yuuuppp….). In 1812 he would secure his first party nomination, and won his first election for a seat in the New York State Senate. At this same time the War of 1812 broke out. Van Buren was a big supporter of the war, and even helped organize the New York militia. His political involvement in the war helped spring board him to winning the position of New York Attorney General in 1815. He won reelection to the New York State Senate and served in both positions simultaneously.

Van Buren continued to be involved and lead many New York “machine” political circles, including the famous Tammany Hall and Albany Regency. Around this same time, Van Buren’s wife passed away after contracting tuberculosis. Although they were only married a short time, he would never remarry. Because of his growing and expanding profile in New York machine, he was elected to the United States Senate representing New York in 1821. As Van Buren had done all throughout his career, he quickly became a very prominent Senator, serving on some major Senate committees.

Van Buren loved the two party system and strove to play one another against each other anytime he could. In the election of 1828, he chose to support Andrew Jackson against John Quincy Adams, because he believed Jackson had the better chance to beat Adams party. With the strong help of Van Buren campaigning for him in the north, the southern Andrew Jackson won the election. But Van Buren won an election of his own. He was elected as the governor of New York. He resigned from his Senate seat and assumed the governorship.

In February of 1829 Jackson asked Van Buren to serve as Secretary of State. Van Buren quickly resigned the governorship and became the U.S. Secretary of State. His term as governor of New York for 43 days is the shortest in New York history. As was described in Jackson’s article, Van Buren became his closest advisor. He experienced numerous successes as Secretary of State including securing several foreign treaties. Also described last time, he became Jackson’s Vice President in his second term, and continued having a successful national political career.

Jackson chose not to seek a second term and was determined to have Van Buren succeed him as President. And that’s precisely what he did. Van Buren won the election of 1836 in a landslide victory. And from this point forward, Van Buren’s easy breeze life in politics would be no more.

When Van Buren entered office, some of the bad policies of Andrew Jackson were just beginning to be felt. Jackson’s dismantling of the Bank of the United States sent the financial industry into a tailspin. This left state banks creating their own currencies, with no consistency. And many were refusing to convert paper currency into gold and silver. And remember, this was a big time for national expansion and business. Many citizens were heading west to purchase new land and start new industries. Banks were dispersing enormous amounts of credit, that were not being paid back. Numerous banks started collapsing, which in turn put several companies out of business. Therefore in 1837 the U.S. had its first economic depression, and unemployment levels reach records highs that the nation had not seen since its inception.

Van Buren proposed to create a U.S. Treasury department, that would house all of the government’s money, and wouldn’t be allowed to print paper currency whenever it felt like it. It would be tied to gold and silver. This would keep the government’s money out of private banks, politics out of private banking, and help curb inflation. Although the proposal was hotly contested, it did finally pass congress in 1840, the last year of Van Buren’s term. This financial system would remain in place until 1913 with the passing of the Federal Reserve Act. Unfortunately, this was too little and too late to save his Presidential career.

Additionally, Van Buren was weighed down with decisions he made regarding the Indian Removal Act. If you will remember from the Jackson article, although the Act passed under Jackson’s administration, many of the harsh Indian removals, such as the Trail of Tears, happened under Van Buren’s watch. He also got bogged down in the Seminole War in Florida, again costing the U.S. funds that they did not have.

Van Buren won the Democrats nomination to run again for President in 1840. With the economy still in shambles, and western expansion and Indian removal being controversial and divisive issues, Van Buren had an uphill battle to win his second term against the Whig Party. He lost to the Whigs in a landslide. Van Buren would try to run for President again in 1844 and 1848. But he never received the Democratic nomination. After this he would retire and never enter politics again. He wrote a few books and toured Europe. He lost that bid for second term to the two men in one of the most famous political slogans and songs, “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”. Who is this Tippecanoe that beat him for the Presidency? Stay tuned for next week’s episode to find out!