Martin Van Buren
Page 20
death of
Van Buren, John (son)
letter from his father of 1858
Van Buren, Maria Hoes (née Van Alen) (mother)
Van Buren, Marten
Van Buren, Martin
Albany Regency and, see “Albany Regency, the”
ambitiousness
ancestry of
appearance of
apprenticeship with Silvester
as attorney general of New York
autobiography of, see autobiography of Martin Van Buren
birth of
Burr and, see Burr, Aaron childhood of
communities named after
death of
democracy, commitment to, see democracy, Van Buren’s commitment to
Democratic Party and, see
Democratic Party
education of
eloquence of
enemies and attacks on
as first ethnic president
as first president born in the U.S.
foreign policy
Free Soil movement and, see Free Soil campaign of 1848
inaugural
inscrutability of
Andrew Jackson and, see Jackson, Andrew, Van Buren and
legal career
legal education
marriage of
middle-of-the-road positions
milestones
as minister to England
New York governors’ race of 1828
nicknames
as optimist
parentage, suspicions about
political skills
presidential election of 1836
presidential election of 1840
presidential election of 1844
presidential election of 1848
ranking among the presidents
in retirement
as secretary of state
slavery issue and
sociability of
as state senator
Texas annexation and
as U.S. senator from New York
as vice president
Van Buren, Martin, Jr. (son)
Van Buren, Smith (son)
Van Buren family
history of
marriage of kin
Van Ness, John
Van Ness, William
Van Ness family
Van Rensselaer, Stephen
Van Rensselaer family
Van Schaack family
Victoria, Queen of England
Virginia
–New York alliance
War of 1812
Washington, D.C.:
gossip and scandal in
population in 1820s
slavery and
social life during Van Buren’s presidency
Washington, George
Washington Globe
Webster, Daniel
Weed, Thurlow
Welles, Gideon
West Point
Whigs
Panic of 1837 and
presidential election of 1940 and
White, Hugh Lawson
White House:
refurbishing of
social life during Van Buren presidency
Whitman, Walt
Wilkes, Charles
Williams, Elisha
Willis, N. P.
Woolf, Virginia
Wright, Silas
ALSO BY TED WIDMER
Young America
Campaigns
with Alan Brinkley
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS SERIES
Joyce Appleby on Thomas Jefferson
Louis Auchincloss on Theodore Roosevelt
Jean H. Baker on James Buchanan
John M. Blum on William Howard Taft
H. W. Brands on Woodrow Wilson
Douglas Brinkley on Gerald R. Ford
Josiah Bunting III on Ulysses S. Grant
James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn on George Washington
Charles W. Calhoun on Benjamin Harrison
Robert Dallek on Harry S. Truman
John W. Dean on Warren G. Harding
John Patrick Diggins on John Adams
E. L. Doctorow on Abraham Lincoln
Annette Gordon-Reed on Andrew Johnson
Henry F. Graff on Grover Cleveland
Gary Hart on James Monroe
Hendrik Hertzberg on Jimmy Carter
Roy Jenkins on Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Zachary Karabell on Chester Alan Arthur
William E. Leuchtenburg on Herbert Hoover
Timothy Naftali on George Bush
Kevin Phillips on William McKinley
Robert V. Remini on John Quincy Adams
John Seigenthaler on James K. Polk
Hans L. Trefousse on Rutherford B. Hayes
Tom Wicker on Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ted Widmer on Martin Van Buren
Sean Wilentz on Andrew Jackson
Garry Wills on James Madison
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ted Widmer is the director of the C. V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College. He is the author of Young America and the coauthor, with Alan Brinkley, of Campaigns. Widmer served as senior adviser to President Clinton and as director of speechwriting at the National Security Council.
Times Books
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
Publishers since 1866
115 West 18th Street
New York, New York 10011
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 2005 by Ted Widmer
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Widmer, Edward L.
Martin Van Buren / Ted Widmer.—1st ed.
p. cm.—(The American presidents)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8050-6922-4
EAN 978-0-8050-6922-8
1. Van Buren, Martin, 1782–1862. 2. Presidents—United States—Biography. 3. United States—Politics and government—1837–1841. I. Title. II. American presidents series (Times Books (Firm))
E397.W535 2005
973.5'7'092—dc22
2004053652
First Edition 2005
eISBN 9781466832718
First eBook edition: October 2012