Martin Van Buren
Best known as: 8th president of the USA
Occupation: Politician
Nicknames: Old Kinderhook, the Little Magician, Red Fox of Kinderhook
Nationality: American (Dutch ancestry)
Religion: Presbyterian
Political party: Democrat
Born: December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, New York
Died: July 24, 1862 in Kinderhook, New York
Remains: Buried in Kinderhook, New York
Education: graduated from Kinderhook Academy in 1796
Offices held:
- New York State Senator (1813-1815)
- New York Attorney General (1815-1819)
- U.S. Senator from New York (1821-1829)
- Goveronr of New York (1831)
- U.S. Secretary of State (1829=1831)
- U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1831-1832)
- Vice president of the U.S. (1832-1837)
- President of the U.S. (1837-1841)
Short biography:
Van Buren was a protegé of Andrew Jackson, having served as Secretary of State and Vice President under him. He was elected president himself in 1836. Near the beginning of his term, the United States entered the worst depression so far in its history, the Panic of 1837. The panic was caused in part by Jackson's destruction of the Second Bank of the United States and his "Specie Circular," which required that all land be purchased with gold or silver. Van Buren continued most of Jackson's policies and did not do much to combat the depression. Also during his presidency Van Buren blocked the annexation of Texas, which would have become a slave state and possibly have started a war with Mexico. Van Buren was defeated in his 1840 bid for re-election by William Henry Harrison. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 1848 for the Free Soil Party.
Wife: Hannah Hoes Van Buren
Friends: Andrew Jackson
Vice president: Richard M. Johnson
Parents: Abraham and Maria Van Buren
Siblings: Derike (born in 1777), Hannah (born in 1780), Lawrence (born in 1786), and Abraham (born in 1788)
Children: Abraham (born in 1807), John (born in 1810), Martin (born in 1812), Smith (born in 1817)
