Based upon extensive use of the Van Buren papers and other basic primary sources of the period, this is a readable, authoritative biography of the 8th President of the United States and a close political ally of Andrew Jackson, and later upholder of the Jacksonian tradition.

John Niven, Katherine Speirs

Signature series book, Newton, Conn, ©2004

United States, United States of America

Signature series, Newtown, Conn, 2012

Newtown, CT 06470, 2000

June 2000

PS, 2000

2000-06

They called him "the Magician," "the Red Fox" and other names that celebrated his pollitical skill. And, indeed, there is no doubt that Martin Van Buren was the most innovative politician of his age. In the first modern biography of the eighth President, John Niven reveals a man who was preeminently a statesman - not just a superb practitioner of the art of the possible, as he is commonly depicted. First prominient in New York politics, Van Buren served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and later as his vice president. The balance wheel of the administration, he was Jackson's most influential adviser. His own presidency (1837-1841) was beset by the worst depression the United States had yet faced, but, as Niven shows, Van Buren met the crisis with courage. His corrective measures incensed the finandial community but save the public credit. Defeated in the 1840 election, he was denied the Democratic nomination in 1844, for opposing on moral grounds, the immediate annexation of Texas. In 1848, as the presidential candidate for the anti-slavery Free Soil Party, he again lent his name to an unpopular cause he felt was right. Charming, witty, enigmatic, Van Buren could hold his own with the other key political figures of his day: Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams. Correcting many false images of Van Buren (including the view that he was a compromiser on the slavery issue), this authoritative biography unveils a brilliant career in American political life, set against the backdrop of a fascinating era. --Book jacket

They called him "the Magician," "the Red Fox" and other names that celebrated his political skill. And, indeed, there is no doubt that Martin Van Buren was the most innovative politician of his age. In the first modern biography of the eighth President, John Niven reveals a man who was preeminently a statesman - not just a superb practitioner of the art of the possible, as he is commonly depicted. First prominent in New York politics, Van Buren served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and later as his vice president. The balance wheel of the administration, he was Jackson's most influential adviser. His own presidency (1837-1841) was beset by the worst depression the United States had yet faced, but, as Niven shows, Van Buren met the crisis with courage. His corrective measures incensed the financial community but save the public credit. Defeated in the 1840 election, he was denied the Democratic nomination in 1844, for opposing on moral grounds, the immediate annexation of Texas. In 1848, as the presidential candidate for the anti-slavery Free Soil Party, he again lent his name to an unpopular cause he felt was right. Charming, witty, enigmatic, Van Buren could hold his own with the other key political figures of his day: Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams. Correcting many false images of Van Buren (including the view that he was a compromiser on the slavery issue), this authoritative biography unveils a brilliant career in American political life, set against the backdrop of a fascinating era. --Book jacket

2024-07-01