Martin Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York. He was the son of a tavern keeper, and a truck farmer. He attended a village school within his Dutch community called Kinderhook Academy. When he was sixteen years of age he appeared in courts to observe the cases. He learned a lot from these cases and they taught him to think quickly and to be resourceful in an argument (Hoyt 10). After graduating from them he became a law clerk, and soon after entered the practice in 1803 (Martin Van Buren). In 1807 he was married for twelve years before his wife, Hannah Hoes, died. .
Van Buren's first political office was that of surrogate. He held this office until he was elected to the state senate in 1812. When Van Buren arrived in Albany two factions of the Democratic-Republican Party were fighting for power. Van Buren became the legislative leader of the "Bucktails", which was against DeWitt Clinton. With the Bucktails support Van Buren became attorney general in 1816. Once Clinton was elected governor in 1819 he erased all bucktails from office thus forcing Van Buren out of office. This three-year term at attorney general gave Van Buren a taste of what he could achieve in the world of politics. In 1820 he was elected to the Senate. Van Buren put his support in the Albany Regency, to William Crawford, and later to Jackson. In 1828 he ran a campaign and won for governor of New York, he resigned shortly after to be Jackson's secretary of state (Martin Van Buren). He was finally on Capitol Hill.
In 1832 he was chosen to run as vice-president with Andrew Jackson. He began to face problems with the South as vice-president. He did not believe the states rights should be subordinated to the federal will, but Jackson thought different. In 1835 Davy Crockett wrote a malicious biography of Van Buren hoping to end Van Buren's chances at the Democratic Republican nomination in 1836 (Hoyt 102-103).
Martin Van Buren was the 8th President of the United States. ... Martin Van Buren won the Presidency. ... Martin Van Buren was a great man who suffered personal tragedies. ... Fearing that there would be bloodshed, Martin Van Buren called upon General Winfield Scott to mediate a solution. ... Van Buren had avoided a war. ...
Van Buren was too incompetent to even create his own cabinet. ... Van Buren's relationship with Congress was almost non-existent. ... Van Buren was incapable of handling challenging situations. ... The greatest failure of Van Buren's administration was the Trail of Tears. ... Van Buren was a below average president. ...
Martin Van Buren, a former Democratic president, was nominated as their candidate. Van Buren and the Free Soil Party ran their campaign in total opposition to the expansion of slavery. Although Van Buren did not carry any states, the ten percent of the total vote that he did receive was enough to ensure Taylor's victory. If Van Buren had not entered the election, the votes that he captured, particularly in New York, would have given Cass the election. ...
President Martin Van Buren was in favor of handing over the Africans to Spain. ... On February 10, 1840 the Hartford Courant published an article attacking President Martin Van Buren for his stance on the Amistad case and he stated "Martin Van Buren is playing the part of a tyrant with a high hand - else why this tampering with our courts of justice". People noticed that Martin Van Buren's interest was only for his own benefit and his stance on the Amistad case only favored him. ... The District court found the slaves innocent and Martin Van Buren, furious and worried that the...
Martin Van Buren was thought to be a common man, during the elections, his opponets attempted to slander his name, calling him the "Flying Dutchman" for he reared in poverty. ... Van Buren was a Democrat, and Democrats were seen as being the more humble of the 2 parties. ...
Martin Van Buren was the leading candidate in the 1844 presidential election and James Polk was a potential candidate for the vice presidency. The one flaw in Van Buren's platform was the opposition of the annexation of the Republic of Texas. During the Democratic convention, it became apparent the Van Buren could not win the two- thirds majority needed for nomination. ...
