Martin Van Buren: Political Magician
The first individual to completely realize the worth of organizing around a political celebration was the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. Wilfred McClay, professor of history at Hillsdale College and author of Land of Hope, explains how Van Buren shaped America’s political destiny.
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Script:
Believe for a minute about the word “political leader.” What does it mean to you? Is it a term of appreciation?
That appears not likely.
Rather, words like “partisan” or “corrupt” probably occur.
A number of America’s Founding Fathers felt the exact same way. They hoped the nation might be governed without political celebrations, by citizen-statesmen who transcended their differences for the sake of the general public great.
That ideal proved hard to develop, and even harder to maintain.
As the country grew, the political and financial interests of various groups diverged, and differences over various issues– taxes, westward expansion, slavery– widened a lot that they could not be smoothed over by simple appeals to patriotism.
The first American leader to welcome this truth was Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States– the very first president who should have to be called a professional political leader.
Van Buren recognized that political conflict was inescapable. This was his lorry for promoting the political ideals of the Founding Father he most admired, Thomas Jefferson, and those of the charismatic basic with whom he ended up being so closely associated, Andrew Jackson.
Their perfects– the preeminence of state and regional issues, the suspicion of a national bank that dealt with Eastern elites, and the knowledge of limiting the power of the federal government– were the heart of his political convictions.
Yes, as odd as it sounds now, the Democratic Party, in Van Buren’s day, was the celebration of small federal government.
Martin Van Buren was born on December 5th, 1782 in the upstate New York town of Kinderhook, where his daddy ran a popular inn and pub situated on the roadway in between New York City and Albany. Pub life offered the young guy an innovative course in political science.
In 1796 at age 13, he apprenticed to a local lawyer and found out the standard rudiments of the legal profession. The practice of law became his ladder of status seeking, and his entrée into the political world.
He likewise discovered how to dress appropriately. More than that, he became popular for his sartorial elegance, in some cases integrating colors– yellow, orange, green, and brown– and fabrics– silk, velour, and Moroccan leather– in a single ensemble.
If his clothes were elite, his political leanings were not.
As he stated in his memoirs, he had “faith in the capability … of individuals of our Country to govern themselves …”.
Van Buren’s first political triumph was available in 1812 when he was chosen to the New York State Senate. What he discovered there was– in a word– mayhem: males with strong opinions, however unable to marshal them into efficient political action.
If you were a party member, you supported the party. And if you didn’t, the celebration wouldn’t support you.
The political maker he created– the very first in American history– was called the Albany Regency. With it, Van Buren controlled New York state politics for twenty years and earned the sobriquet “The Little Magician.” When he was elected to the US Senate in 1821, he took his magic show nationwide.
But Van Buren’s profession actually removed when he formed an alliance with military hero Andrew Jackson.
The combination of Jackson’s popular appeal and Van Buren’s organizational genius made them a formidable duo. With Van Buren as a leading consultant, Jackson decisively won the 1828 and 1832 presidential elections. Van Buren ended up being Jackson’s many relied on lieutenant. He served as Jackson’s Secretary of State, Minister to the United Kingdom, and in Jackson’s 2nd term, as Vice President and designated beneficiary.
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The first person to fully realize the value of organizing around a political party was the eighth President of the United States, Martin Van Buren. Wilfred McClay, professor of history at Hillsdale College and author of Land of Hope, explains how Van Buren formed America’s political fate.
Van Buren recognized that political conflict was inescapable. Martin Van Buren was born on December 5th, 1782 in the upstate New York town of Kinderhook, where his father ran a popular inn and tavern located on the road between New York City and Albany. The combination of Jackson’s popular appeal and Van Buren’s organizational genius made them a formidable duo.
