Some say that Martin Van Buren was one of themost remarkable politicians—not only of his time, but in American presidential history. Co-editor of the Martin Van Buren Papers, James M. Bradley writes this new biography of the 8th president of the United States .
Van Buren was the first chief executive not born a British citizen, and the first to use the party system to chart his way from tavern-keeper's son to the pinnacle of power. Additionally, he was the principal architect of the party system and one of the founders of the Democratic Party, he came to dominate New York-then the most influential state in the Union-and was instrumental in electing Andrew Jackson president.
Van Buren's skills as a political strategist were unparalleled—and was coined the "Little Magician"—winning him a series of high-profile offices: US senator, New York's governor, US secretary of state, US vice president, and finally theWhite House. In his rise to power, Van Buren sought consensus and conciliation, bending to the wishes of slave interests and complicit in the dispossession of America's Indigenous population, two of the darkest chapters in American history.
This first full-scale portrait charts Van Buren’s ascent from a tavern in the Hudson Valley to the presidency, concluding with his late-career involvement in an antislavery movement. Offering vivid profiles of the day's leading figures including Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, DeWitt Clinton, and James Polk, Bradley's book depicts the struggle for power in the tumultuous decadesleading up to the Civil War.
About the Author
James M. Bradley is co-editor of the Martin Van Buren Papers, based at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. He is an Adjunct Instructor in the public history program at State University of New York at Albany and was the Senior Project Editor of Encyclopedia of New York City,published by Yale University Press.
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