General Notes

Name Prefix:<NPFX> President
"Martin Van Buren"

"Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren
dressed fastidiously. His impeccable appearance belied his
amiability--and his humble background. Of Dutch descent, he was born in
178 2, the son of a tavernkeeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York.

As a youn g lawyer he became involved in New York politics. As leader of
the "Albany Re gency," an effective New York political organization, he
shrewdly dispensed p ublic offices and bounty in a fashion calculated to
bring votes. Yet he faith fully fulfilled official duties, and in 1821was elected to the United States S enate.

By 1827 he had emerged as the principal northern leader for Andrew
Jackson. President Jackson rewarded Van Buren by appointing him Secretaryof S tate. As the Cabinet Members appointed at John C. Calhoun'srecommendation bega n to demonstrate only secondary loyalty to Jackson,Van Buren emerged as the Pr esident's most trusted adviser. Jacksoneferred to him as, "a true man with no guile."

The rift in the Cabinet became serious because of Jackson's differe nces
with Calhoun, a Presidential aspirant. Van Buren suggested a way out of
an eventual impasse: he and Secretary of War Eaton resigned, so that
Calhou n men would also resign. Jackson appointed a new Cabinet, and
sought again to reward Van Buren by appointing him Minister to Great
Britain. Vice President Calhoun, as President of the Senate, cast the
deciding vote against the appo intment--and made a martyr of Van Buren.

The "Little Magician" was elected Vice President on the Jacksonian ticketin 1832, and won the Presidency in 1836 .

Van Buren devoted his Inaugural Address to a discourse upon the Americanexperiment as an example to the rest of the world. The country wasprosperous, but less than three months later the panic of 1837 puncturedthe prosperity.

Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of "boom andbust ," which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financialmeasures co ntributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank ofthe United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationarypractices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easybank credit, had swept the West. To en d this speculation, Jackson in1836 had issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased withhard money--gold or silver.

In 1837 the panic bega n. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed.
Thousands lost their lands. For a bout five years the United States was
wracked by the worst depression thus fa r in its history.

Programs applied decades later to alleviate economic cris is eluded both
Van Buren and his opponents. Van Buren's remedy--continuing Ja ckson's
deflationary policies--only deepened....."

1  NAME Martin /Van Buren/
2  SOUR S027217
3  DATA
4  TEXT Date of Import: Jul 25, 2002


[Lin Stuhler July 2002.ged]

President Martin Van Buren was my 2nd cousin, 6 times removed.
(May 15, 2002 LCSS).

SOURCE: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/dutch/vbcmdesc5.html#36 0
The Van Buren Information Desk, Page 5

"History of Cornelis Maessen Van Buren" by H. C. Peckham"

"The Van Buren Descendants of Marten Cornelissen, S econd son of CornelisMaes" #360
"Martin (Abraham, Marten, Pieter³, Marten², C ornelis¹)
Bap. December 5, 1782; died July 24, 1862; married February 21, 1807 at
Catskill, Hannah Hoes, daughter of John D. Hoes and Maria Quakenbosch. Hebecame the eighth President of the United States.
Issues:

#572 - Abraham, b. Nov. 27, 1807; d. Mar. 15, 1873; m. Nov., 1838,
Angelica Singleton.

#57 3 - John, b. Feb. 10, 1810; d. Oct. 13, 1866; m. 1841, Elizabeth Van
der Poel .

#574 - Martin, b. Dec. 20, 1812; d. Mar. 19, 1855 in Paris, unmarried.

#575 - Smith Thompson, m. first Ellen King James; m. second, a Miss
Irving".
(May 19, 2002   LCSS).
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