<P> Martin Van Buren (Dutch: Maarten van Buren pronunciation (help info); December 5, 1782--July 24, 1862) was the eighth President of the United States (1837--41). A founder of the Democratic Party, he served in a number of senior roles, including eighth Vice President (1833--37) and tenth Secretary of State (1829--31), both under Andrew Jackson . Van Buren won the presidency by promising to continue Jackson's policies . Shortly after taking office, the Panic of 1837 struck the nation, and his inability to deal effectively with the economic crisis, combined with the growing political strength of the opposition Whig Party, led to his defeat . During his half - century of public service, he built, perfected, and defended a new system of political parties at first the state and then the federal level . </P> <P> A delegate to a political convention at age 18, he quickly moved from local to state politics, gaining fame both as a political organizer and an accomplished lawyer . Elected to the Senate by the New York State Legislature in 1821, he reorganized the Democratic - Republican Party in New York and established the Albany Regency to keep it in power . Van Buren supported William H. Crawford for president in the 1824 election . John Quincy Adams was then made president in a contingent election . The supporters of Jackson, who had won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote, coalesced around Jackson to create the new Democratic Party . Van Buren, alarmed by the nationalist policies of the Adams administration, soon joined them . Van Buren was a major supporter and organizer for Jackson in the 1828 election, and ran for Governor of New York in the hope of using his personal popularity to boost Jackson's campaign . Jackson and Van Buren were elected, and after serving as governor for two months, Van Buren resigned to become Jackson's Secretary of State . During Jackson's eight years as president, Van Buren was a key advisor, and built the organizational structure for the coalescing Democratic Party, particularly in New York . He resigned as Secretary of State in 1831 to help resolve the Petticoat affair . Jackson gave Van Buren a recess appointment as American minister to Britain . Van Buren's nomination was rejected by the Senate, cutting short his service in London, but he was elected vice president in the 1832 election . </P> <P> With Jackson's strong support, Van Buren faced little opposition for the presidential nomination at the 1835 Democratic National Convention, and he defeated several Whig opponents in the 1836 presidential election . He was the first president to be born a United States citizen . Of Dutch ancestry, he is the only president who spoke English as a second language . As president, Van Buren was blamed for the depression of 1837; hostile newspapers called him "Martin Van Ruin". He attempted to cure the economic problems by keeping control of federal funds in an independent treasury, rather than in state banks, but Congress would not approve of this until 1840 . In foreign affairs, he denied the application of Texas for admission to the Union, unwilling to upset the balance of free and slave states in the Missouri Compromise, and hoping to avoid war with Mexico over Texas annexation . Additionally, relations with Britain and its colonies in Canada proved to be strained from the bloodless Aroostook War and the Caroline Affair . In the 1840 election, Van Buren was voted out of office, losing to Whig candidate William Henry Harrison . </P> <P> Van Buren was the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1844, but his continued opposition to the annexation of Texas caused him to lose to James K. Polk, who went on to win the election . In the 1848 election, Van Buren ran unsuccessfully as the candidate of the anti-slavery Free Soil Party . He returned to the Democratic fold to endorse Franklin Pierce (1852), James Buchanan (1856), and Stephen A. Douglas (1860) for the presidency . His increasingly abolitionist views and support for the Union led him to support Abraham Lincoln's policies after the start of the American Civil War . Van Buren's health began to fail in 1861, and he died in July 1862 at age 79 . </P>

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