Martin Van Buren Biography Quotes 29 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Martin Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York, to a family of Dutch heritage. He grew up speaking Dutch at home and is the only U.S. president for whom English was a second language. His father kept a tavern that doubled as a local political gathering place, exposing him early to debate and the mechanics of party organization. Van Buren read law in the traditional way, apprenticing in established offices, and was admitted to the bar in 1803. He began practice in Kinderhook and later in Hudson, developing a reputation for meticulous preparation, tactical skill, and an instinct for coalition building. In 1807 he married Hannah Hoes, a childhood companion; she died in 1819, and he never remarried. They had four sons, including John Van Buren, who later emerged as a notable Democratic and Free Soil organizer in New York.

Rise in New York Politics
Van Buren entered public life in a state dominated by intense factionalism. He served as surrogate of Columbia County beginning in 1808, won election to the New York State Senate in 1812, and became state attorney general in 1815. He helped create the Albany Regency, a disciplined Democratic organization that included figures such as William L. Marcy, Silas Wright, Benjamin F. Butler, and Azariah C. Flagg. Through careful management of patronage, newspapers, and legislative caucuses, the Regency countered rivals aligned with DeWitt Clinton. By 1821 Van Buren had risen to the United States Senate, where he positioned himself as a pragmatic Jeffersonian committed to limited government and party unity. He supported William H. Crawford in 1824, then adjusted to the new alignments that formed after the contentious John Quincy Adams presidency.

Jacksonian Architect
Perceiving the potency of Andrew Jackson's popular appeal, Van Buren became a principal architect of the national coalition that evolved into the Democratic Party. He defended the principle that organized parties, far from being a danger, could discipline sectional passions and preserve the Union. In 1828 New York helped elect Jackson, and Van Buren became governor of New York in January 1829, only to resign weeks later to join the Jackson cabinet as secretary of state. In Washington he worked with Amos Kendall and other allies to advance Jackson's agenda, and he cultivated relationships with Edward Livingston and Levi Woodbury. His tact during the Eaton affair, and his willingness to resign to facilitate a cabinet reorganization, strengthened Jackson's hand and weakened Vice President John C. Calhoun. Jackson nominated him as minister to Great Britain in 1831, but the Senate refused confirmation after a tie broken by Calhoun, an episode that bolstered Van Buren's standing among Jacksonians as a martyr to partisan hostility.

Vice Presidency and Election to the Presidency
Van Buren served as vice president during Jackson's second term (1833, 1837), presiding over the Senate while the administration battled the Bank of the United States and reorganized federal finances. With Jackson's enthusiastic backing, he won the presidency in 1836, defeating a divided Whig field. His running mate was Richard Mentor Johnson. Van Buren entered office promising continuity with Jacksonian principles: hard-money fiscal policy, a restrained federal government, and fidelity to the Union without intruding on state authority regarding slavery.

Presidency (1837–1841)
Weeks after his inauguration the Panic of 1837 struck, triggered by a global contraction, speculative excesses, and fragile credit networks. Van Buren resisted restoring a national bank and instead proposed the Independent Treasury, separating federal receipts from private banks. After several defeats, Congress enacted the system in 1840. He faced stiff opposition from Whig leaders Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, who argued that his policies deepened the depression, while Van Buren and Treasury allies like Levi Woodbury insisted that durable recovery required disentangling government from speculative finance.

Foreign affairs demanded caution. He recognized the independence of Texas in 1837 but declined to pursue annexation, judging it dangerous to sectional balance and relations with Mexico. When rebellions erupted in Canada, he proclaimed neutrality and enforced the law against filibustering, even as tensions flared in the Caroline affair along the U.S., British border. He also confronted ongoing conflict in Florida during the Second Seminole War. In 1838 the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation proceeded under the disputed Treaty of New Echota, negotiated in the prior administration; the removal, conducted by federal troops under Winfield Scott, resulted in great suffering and loss of life and remains a grave stain on federal Indian policy.

Defeat in 1840
The election of 1840 became a referendum on economic hardship. The Whigs rallied behind William Henry Harrison with John Tyler as running mate, orchestrating a mass popular campaign that emphasized imagery and song. Van Buren's reserve and defense of hard-money policy proved politically costly. He lost the presidency as the Whigs unified their diverse factions, aided by party managers and orators such as Webster. Although Harrison soon died and Tyler broke with Whig leaders, the defeat ended Van Buren's tenure.

Texas, Party Fracture, and the 1848 Campaign
Van Buren sought the Democratic nomination in 1844. His public letter opposing immediate annexation of Texas cost him support among Southern Democrats and among Andrew Jackson's circle; the convention turned to James K. Polk. In New York, his allies diverged into Barnburners and Hunkers, reflecting growing sectional tensions. By 1848 Van Buren accepted the Free Soil nomination for president, with Charles Francis Adams as his running mate, arguing against the expansion of slavery into the territories. The campaign split Democratic strength in key states and contributed to the election of Whig candidate Zachary Taylor. Among the Free Soilers were antislavery Democrats such as Salmon P. Chase, while Van Buren relied heavily on the organizing of his son John Van Buren and Congressman Preston King.

Later Years and Views
In retirement at Lindenwald, his estate near Kinderhook, Van Buren remained an attentive observer of national politics. He corresponded with former colleagues like Silas Wright and watched the Democratic Party struggle with the Compromise of 1850 and subsequent sectional crises. He drafted an autobiography that he left unfinished. A former slaveholder in early life under New York's gradual emancipation regime, he later aligned with restrictions on slavery's territorial expansion, a stance that shaped his Free Soil run. He traveled domestically and abroad and maintained cordial relations with some former adversaries, though he never returned to elective office.

Family, Character, and Legacy
Van Buren's political style earned him the nicknames Little Magician and Red Fox of Kinderhook, references to his diminutive stature and tactical agility. He cultivated party cohesion through patronage and clear platforms, convinced that robust, nationwide parties like the Democrats and Whigs were instruments of stability. Personally courteous and careful with words, he was also a shrewd operator who understood newspapers, legislative caucuses, and the subtleties of regional interest. His household centered on his sons after the death of Hannah Hoes Van Buren; John Van Buren became the most prominent, a combative lawyer and speaker in New York politics.

He died on July 24, 1862, in Kinderhook. Historians credit him as a principal builder of the American party system and a key lieutenant to Andrew Jackson, while judging his presidency through the lens of the Panic of 1837, the Independent Treasury, firm but controversial neutrality in the Canadian border crises, and the tragic continuation of Indian removal. The long arc of his career, intersecting with figures such as Jackson, Calhoun, Clay, Webster, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, and Adams, illustrates both the possibilities and the limits of party leadership in an era when the Union was increasingly strained by sectional conflict.

Our collection contains 29 quotes who is written by Martin, under the main topics: Ethics & Morality - Justice - Leadership - Freedom - Military & Soldier.

Other people realated to Martin: William C. Bryant (Poet), John Quincy Adams (President), Abigail Van Buren (Journalist), William Henry Harrison (President), George Bancroft (Historian), William H. Wharton (Politician), John Tyler (President), Caleb Cushing (Diplomat), Franklin Pierce (President), John Eaton (Politician)