VAN BUREN, MARTIN (1782-1862), 8th president of the United States, was born at Kinderhook, N.Y., on Dec. 5, 1782, of Dutch descent. His father was a farmer and tavern-keeper. His education was limited to that which could be obtained in the common schools and at Kinderhook academy. In 1796 he began the study of law, completing his preparation in 1802 at New York, where he studied under William Peter Van Ness (1778-1826), an eminent lawyer and later Aaron Burr's second in the duel with Alexander Hamilton. In 1803 he was admitted to the bar and con tinued in active and successful practice for 25 years. His prac tice made him financially independent, and paved the way for his entrance into politics. New York politics after 1800, the year of the election of Jefferson and the downfall of the Federalists, were peculiarly bitter and personal. The Republicans were divided into three factions, followers respectively of George Clinton (and later of his nephew, De Witt Clinton), Robert R. Livingston and Aaron Burr; and such Federalist control as there was from time to time after 1799, depended upon coalition with one or other of these groups. Van Buren, who early allied himself with the Clin tonians, served as surrogate of Columbia county from 1808 to 1813. In 1812 he entered the State senate, in which his career covered two terms (1812-2o). In 1815 he became attorney gen eral, an office which he held, still as a member of the senate, until 1819, when he was displaced to make room for a Federalist. He had already, in 18°8, removed from Kinderhook to Hudson, and in 1816 he took up his residence in Albany, where he continued to reside until he entered Jackson's cabinet in 1829. As a member of the State senate he supported the War of He was chosen to draft the resolution of thanks voted by the legislature to Gen. Andrew Jackson after the battle of New Orleans. He broke with De Witt Clinton in 1813, but nevertheless favoured, in 1817, Clinton's plan for the Erie canal. His attitude towards slavery at the moment was shown by his vote, in Jan. 182o, for a resolution opposing the admission of Missouri as a slave State. It is at this point that Van Buren's connection began with so-called "machine politics," a connection which has made his name odious to some historians of the period. He was a leading member of the "Albany
regency," a group of politicians who for more than a generation controlled the politics of New York and powerfully influenced those of the nation, and who did more than any other agency to make the "spoils system" a recognized procedure in national, State and local affairs. Van Buren did not originate the system, for it was already well developed when he entered public life; but the nickname of "Little Magician" which presently attached to him testifies to the skill with which he exploited it.
In 1821 he was elected to the U.S. Senate in which his course was not altogether consistent, though in this respect he is not to be judged more harshly than some of his associates. He at first favoured internal improvements, and in 1824 proposed a con stitutional amendment to authorize such undertakings, but the next year took ground against them. He voted for the tariff of 1824, then gradually abandoned the protectionist position. He early recognized the availability of Andrew Jackson, however, as a presidential candidate, and after the election sought to bring the Crawford and Jackson followers together, at the same time strengthening his control as a party leader in the Senate. Always notably courteous in his treatment of opponents, he showed no bitterness either towards J. Q. Adams or Henry Clay, and voted for Clay's confirmation as secretary of State notwithstanding the "corrupt bargain" charge; at the same time he opposed internal improvements and declined to support the proposal for a Panama Congress. In the debate on the "tariff of abominations" in 1828 he took no part, but voted for the measure in obedience to instruc tions from the New York legislature—an action which was cited against him as late as the presidential campaign of 1844. Van Buren was not an orator, but his more important speeches show careful pteparation and his opinions carried weight ; and the oft repeated charge that he refrained from declaring himself on cru cial questions is hardly borne out by an examination of his sen atorial career. In 1827 he was re-elected to the Senate and became one of the recognized managers of the Jackson campaign.