In early June 1824, Martin Van Buren, New York's junior United States senator, went to Virginia to meet Thomas Jefferson, a man "whose character, conduct and principles formed my beau ideal of thorough patriotism and accomplished statesmanship," Van Buren would one day write. Eighty-one, ailing, and chased by creditors, the former president never refused guests, even though the frequent entertaining added to his money woes. An air of mystery surrounded the visit. In Washington, word spread that Van Burenwas heading South, but only a handful of people knew what lay behind his trip. It was a presidential election year, and several high-profile politicians were seeking the office. One of them was the US Treasury secretary, William H. Crawford. Van Buren was backing Crawford, whose campaign was in serious trouble. An official benediction from Jefferson, patriarch of the Republican Party, could turn Crawford's fortunes around. But people did not ask ex-presidents for endorsements then, and ex-presidents werenot supposed to give them. Van Buren had little use for such niceties, though he recognized that a trip to Monticello might be viewed unfavorably and wanted it kept quiet. "Mention this to no one except Mr Crawford," he wrote in a letter to Asbury Dickins, a Treasury clerk and Crawford aide"- Provided by publisher.
A new biography of the 8th president of the United States, 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.
Martin Van Buren was one of the most remarkable politicians not only of his time but in American presidential history. 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 (he was known as 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 the White 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 new biography of Van Buren -- the first full-scale portrait in four decades -- charts his 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 (Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, DeWitt Clinton, James K. Polk), James Bradley's book depicts the struggle for power in the tumultuous decades leading up to the Civil War.
A new biography of the 8th president of the United States, 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.
