Martin Van Buren

Profession: 8th US President

Nationality:

Political Party: Democratic-Republican, Democratic
Political Titles: Vice President, United States Secretary of States, Governor of New York

Presidential Term: March 4, 1837 - March 4, 1841
Preceded By: Andrew Jackson
Succeeded By: William Henry Harrison

Biography: The eighth President of the United States (1837–1841). Before his presidency, he served as Vice President and as secretary of state under Andrew Jackson. Of Dutch ancestry, he was the first president not of British or Irish descent, and was also the first president to be born a United States citizen.

His administration was largely characterized by the economic hardship of his time, the Panic of 1837, for which he became a scapegoat. Newspapers often called him "Martin Van Ruin." In foreign policy he declined to admit Texas to the Union as he feared a war with Mexico and did not want to upset the balance of free and slave states as envisioned in the Missouri Compromise. He also had strained relations with Britain after a series of controversial incidents, mainly the bloodless Aroostook War and the Caroline Affair.

Van Buren was voted out of office in 1840, and tried unsuccessfully to recapture the Democratic nomination in 1844.

Born: December 5, 1782
Birthplace: Kinderhook, New York, USA
Star Sign: Sagittarius

Died: July 24, 1862 (aged 79)
Cause of Death: Heart failure