🎩Martin Van Buren

8th President · 1837–1841 · Democratic

Martin Van Buren was the first president born as a citizen of the United States rather than a British subject, and the only president whose first language was not English (he grew up speaking Dutch). As a New York political organizer and Jackson's heir apparent, he helped build the modern Democratic Party. His single term was wrecked by the Panic of 1837, a severe depression he inherited and could not fix.

Political Operator

Van Buren built his career in New York state politics, where he organized the Albany Regency — arguably the first political machine in American history. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1821, he helped construct the coalition that became Jackson's Democratic Party. As Jackson's Secretary of State and then Vice President, he was the obvious successor in 1836.

Panic of 1837

Within weeks of Van Buren's inauguration, a speculative bubble in land and cotton collapsed. The Panic of 1837 became one of the worst economic crises of the 19th century. Banks failed, prices collapsed, and unemployment soared. Van Buren, a believer in limited government, offered little federal relief — a stance that helped cost him the 1840 election to William Henry Harrison and the newly formed Whig Party.

Third-Party Run

Van Buren ran for president a third time in 1848 as the candidate of the Free Soil Party, which opposed the extension of slavery into the territories acquired from Mexico. He did not win any states but drew enough votes in New York to throw the election to the Whig Zachary Taylor. He is the only president to be nominated as the presidential candidate of a third party after having been president.

Van Buren Trivia

• "OK" may come from Van Buren — he was nicknamed "Old Kinderhook" and his supporters called themselves "OK Clubs."
• He was the first president born after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
• Van Buren oversaw the final phase of the Trail of Tears removal of the Cherokee Nation.
• He was nicknamed "the Little Magician" for his political skills and short stature (5'6").

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