The 8th POTUS Martin Van Buren was born on this day in 1782.

Ten Notes On Martin Van Buren.

1. Martin Van Buren was from tiny Kinderhook, New York. He was born in Kinderhook and he died there.He was 5’6. He had blue eyes and reddish hair. He was a Democrat. He was the first born American citizen to become president. He was born 6 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

2. He was the first setting Vice-President to be elected in his own right. It would happen again in 1988 when George H.W. Bush was elected. You would think it would have happened more than twice.

3. A Martin Van Buren quote ” As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it” He ran for re-election in 1840 and was beaten by William Henry Harrison and he ran two more times, he lost the Democratic nomination to James K. Polk in 1844 and in 1848 he ran for POTUS on the Free-Soil ticket and was trounced finishing third in a three man race and not carrying even one state. The presidency must not have been too bad, he seemed to hunger for a return trip after he was defeated.

4. Martin Van Buren was a career politician. He is credited with being the inventor of “machine politics” He held a number of offices before being elected POTUS. He was Surrogate, Columbia County, New York, member of the New York State Senate, Attorney General of New York, member of the U.S. Senate, Governor of New York, Secretary of State, U.S. Minister to Great Britain and he was the Vice-Daddy in the second term of POTUS Andrew Jackson. In 1836 he ran for POTUS as Jackson’s hand picked successor and won rather easily. In 1840 when he ran for re-election he was beaten badly by Harrison.

5. The Panic of 1937 hit in May of 1937. Banks closed in New York City and Philadelphia. The depression lasts thoughout Van Buren’s term. This was one of the main reasons he got stomped in the 1840 election. His opponents used slogans in 1840 like “Martin Van Ruin” and “Van is a used up man”

6. At his presidential inaugural Van Buren received polite applause from the crowd. Andrew Jackson who was leaving office after two terms received a standing ovation. This is like when Adams replace Washington and on Adams inaugural day everyone’s attention was on the departing Washington.

7. Growing up in New York, Martin Van Buren was Dutch. His first language growing up was Dutch, not English. He was the first POTUS who wasn’t of English or Irish descent.

8. During Andrew Jackson’s first term as POTUS Van Buren was his Secretary of State, he would replace John C. Calhoun on the ticket during Jackson’s second term which began in 1832.

9. Hannah Van Buren, Martin’s wife died years before her husband became POTUS. She died in 1819. Van Buren never remarried.

10. Martin Van Buren had a lot of nicknames among them- Fox of Kinderhook, Little Magician, Little Wizard, Wizard of Kinderhook, Sweet Sandy Whiskers, Old Kinderhook, King Martin The First.  Some claim that the expression O.K.  originated from Van Buren backers who referred to him  by the initials of his nickname Old Kinderhook.