Martin Van Buren Fact Sheet: Who was Martin Van Buren? The following short biography and fact sheet provides interesting facts about the life, times and history of Martin Van Buren.

Martin Van Buren Fact File Biography: Lifespan: 1781 - 1862 *** Full Name: Martin Van Buren *** Occupation: American Politician and 8th President of the United States *** Date of Birth: Martin Van Buren was born on December 5th 1781 *** Place of Birth: Martin Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York, U.S. *** Family background: His father was Abraham Van Buren and his mother was Maria Hoes Van Alen Van Buren and had been widowed before marring Abraham. Both of his parents families originated from the Netherlands and most of the inhabitants of his small village also originate from the Netherlands and so it was easier for them all to speak Dutch with American as their second language, so it would be that Martin would become the first President to serve whose first language had not been American *** Early life and childhood: He grew up with two half siblings from his mother’s first marriage, a brother and sister and four siblings from his parent’s union, two sisters and two brothers *** Education: Martin Van Buren was educated in the local small village school and also attended the Kinderhook Academy and Washington Seminary ***

Martin Van Buren Fact 1: Martin Van Buren was born on December 5th 1781 and during the 18th century period in history when Europeans began to colonize the America’s in earnest, the Ming Dynasty began to collapse, in the Near East, the Persian, Ottoman and Mughal empires were on the rise and many innovations were being made in science, medicine, technology and industry.

Martin Van Buren Fact 2: When he completed his schooling he decided to study law which he proceeded to do in the office of Peter Silvester who was a Federalist attorney.

Martin Van Buren Fact 3: He spent the next six years with the Silvester firm. However, it was noted by the senior member of the Silvester firm and John Peter Van Ness, a Democratic-Republican, that Van Buren’s political leanings were leading him more towards the Democratic-Republican party and that he would be better served in a law firm with similar political views and so he spent the next year in the New York City office William P. Van Ness and would be admitted to the bar in 1803.

Martin Van Buren Fact 4: Hannah Hoes was Martin’s childhood sweetheart and they married in February of 1807. Together they had one daughter and five sons.

Martin Van Buren Fact 5: Martin owned one slave, Tom, when he was a young man. Tom ran away and was later found to have settled in Canada. Van Buren never tried to locate him however Van Buren was informed that Tom had been found and although Van Buren did not particularly want his slave back in order to be politically correct he had to been seen to try and reacquire his property so he requested Tom be captured without the use of force. When this was not forthcoming and with the knowledge that within three years he would have been emancipated anyway Van Buren let the matter rest and became forgotten, which was probably his aim.

Martin Van Buren Fact 6: In 1821 he was elected as a U.S. Senator.

Martin Van Buren Fact 7: During the presidential elections of 1824, Van Buren decided to support William H. Crawford but the race came down to a choice of between Crawford, Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. The United States House of Representatives was called on to make the choice between the top three candidates which eliminated Clay.

Martin Van Buren Fact 8: At that point Van Buren decided wisely to step back and allow the play to unfold and it fell to Adams who became the next President, although this result remained shrouded in controversy.

Martin Van Buren Fact 9: As chairman of the Judiciary Committee he proposed several measures to improve the judicial procedure.

Martin Van Buren Fact 10: By 1829 as Andrew Jackson was elected to the office of the President he appointed Martin Van Buren as his Secretary of State.

Martin Van Buren Fact 11: During the round of presidential elections Jackson wanted Van Buren on his ticket, but John Calhoun, opposed to Jackson and likewise Van Buren, blocked his bid.

Martin Van Buren Fact 12: Calhoun’s intention was to ruin Van Buren’s career over his involvement in the Petticoat Affair. However, Calhoun’s machinations would ultimately backfire him as him taking part in petty politics which made Van Buren appear the victim and so garnered more support.

Martin Van Buren Fact 13: The 1832 election saw Jackson and Van Buren enter the White House as President and Vice President.

Martin Van Buren Fact 14: Jackson, having decided not to run for further term was however, determined to see Van Buren follow him as President in the hopes that he would continue what Jackson had started.

Martin Van Buren Fact 15: During the 1835 Democratic National Convention he was unanimously nominated.

Martin Van Buren Fact 16: Thus it was that Martin Van Buren was nominated and won the election to become the 8th President of the United States.

Martin Van Buren Fact 17: He did what Jackson had hoped and pledged to continue the good works and to follow in his predecessors footsteps.

Martin Van Buren Fact 18: Although he ran for a second term in office, this time he was beaten by the Whig nominee, William Henry Harrison and he was noted to have said as he left the office “As to the presidency, the two happiest days of the my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it.”

Martin Van Buren Fact 19: Although he returned to his home and began to make plans to return to the White House, his views with regard to the annexation of Texas cost him dearly with the pro-slavery Democrats.

Martin Van Buren Fact 20: Martin Van Buren died on July 24th 1862 of bronchial asthma and heart failure at his home on the Lindenwald estate in Kinderhook, aged seventy nine. His body laid to rest in the Kinderhook Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery.

Influence and Legacy: Politicians in these early days could be vicious and as much as Van Buren was accused of being no less cynical, manipulative and power hungry as much as there was an element of truth in those views he was also very aware of what his position as the President was required of him and so he stance was one of not allowing his own personal views to cloud his judgment.