Sunday, January 20, 2013

What are some fun and interesting facts about President Martin Van Buren?

In office for one term between 1837 to 1841, Martin Van Buren was one of the founders of the Democratic party and the first American president to be an official citizen of the United States.
Little Mart, as he was known by his family, was bought up in Kinderhook, New York, to a mother and father of Dutch descent. His parents owned a tavern, and it was here that Van Buren first met some of the country's leading politicians and lawyers. The lawyer Francis Silvester took Van Buren on as his apprentice, and at the age of only fifteen, Van Buren won his first court case.
In 1803, Van Buren opened a law firm in his hometown with his half-brother, but he didn't practice law for long. In 1812 he was elected to the New York Senate, and in 1828 he became Andrew Jackson's secretary of state.
As a politician, Van Buren was referred to as the Little Magician by his friends and as the Sly Fox by his enemies.
Van Buren died in June 1862 at the age of seventy-nine, leaving behind four children. His wife, Hannah (also his cousin), had died in 1819, and he'd decided against remarrying.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Van-Buren

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