DemocratPresident · New York
Martin Van Buren"Old Kinderhook"
1837 first electedLeft office 18414 years servedBorn 1782 in Kinderhook, New YorkDied 1862
Biography
Born December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York, to a family of Dutch descent. He trained as a lawyer and rose through New York politics, becoming a skilled political organizer who helped build the modern Democratic Party alongside Andrew Jackson. He served as New York's Attorney General, U.S. Senator, Governor of New York (briefly), Secretary of State, and Vice President under Jackson before winning the presidency in 1836 as the 8th President of the United States. His term was dominated by the Panic of 1837, a severe economic depression that badly damaged his popularity, and he lost re-election in 1840 to William Henry Harrison. He later ran unsuccessfully for president again in 1848 as the candidate of the anti-slavery Free Soil Party.
Additional Info
Spouse
Hannah Hoes
Vice President
Richard Mentor Johnson
Prior Offices
8th Vice President of the United States, United States Minister to the United Kingdom, 10th United States Secretary of State, 9th Governor of New York, United States Senator from New York, 14th Attorney General of New York
Fun Fact
Van Buren was the first U.S. president born after American independence — meaning he was the first president who was a natural-born U.S. citizen rather than a former British subject. He was also the only president whose first language was not English; he grew up speaking Dutch, still commonly spoken in the Hudson Valley Dutch communities of his youth.
Election History
No election records found in the database yet.