 |
Martin Van Buren
b. 5 Dec 1782, Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York
d. 24 Jul 1862, "Lindenwald," Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
4 Mar 1837 - 4 Mar 1841 |
| Chronology: |
8 Feb 1837,
election to the office of President of the United States is declared upon counting electoral votes (cast 7 Dec 1836),
joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1] |
|
4 Mar 1837,
commencement of term |
|
4 Mar 1837,
took an oath of office as President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the special session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2] |
|
4 Mar 1841,
expiration of term |
| Biography: |
| Eldest son of a small farmer; studied the rudiments of English and Latin in the schools of his native village; at the age of 14 years commenced reading law; in 1802 he went to New York City and studied law with William P. Van Ness, a friend of Aaron Burr; admitted to the bar (1803) and commenced practice in Kinderhook, New York; moved to Hudson, New York, in 1809; surrogate of Columbia County (1808-1813); member, New York State senate (1813-1820); attorney general of New York (1816-1819); delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1821; elected to the US Senate; reelected in 1827, and served from 4 Mar 1821, until 20 Dec 1828, when he resigned, having been elected Governor; chairman, Committee on the Judiciary (18th through 20th Congresses); elected Governor of the State of New York (3 Nov 1828, election is certified 5 Dec 1828) and briefly occupied that office (1 Jan 1829 - 12 Mar 1829); resigned to enter the Cabinet; appointed Secretary of State (28 Mar 1829 - 23 May 1831) in the Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson; resigned when he was commissioned Minister to Great Britain; the Senate rejected his nomination in January 1832, and he returned to the United States; elected, as a Democrat, Vice President of the United States on the ticket with Andrew Jackson and served from 4 Mar 1833, to 4 Mar 1837; elected, as a Democrat, President of the United States in 1836; took office as a financial panic spread throughout the nation; removed government funds from state banks and put them in an "independent treasury"; costly war with the Seminole Indians in Florida; unsuccessful candidate for reelection as President on the Democratic ticket in 1840 and on the Free-Soil ticket in 1848; withdrew from political life and retired to his country home, "Lindenwald," in Kinderhook, New York, where he died. |
| Biographical sources: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (2005). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (7 Dec 1836) * |
| |
including votes from Michigan |
excluding votes from Michigan |
| Martin Van Buren |
170 |
167 |
| William Henry Harrison |
73 |
73 |
| Hugh Lawson White |
26 |
26 |
| Daniel Webster |
14 |
14 |
| Willie Person Mangum |
11 |
11 |
| total number of electors appointed |
294 |
291 |
| number of votes for a majority |
148 |
146 |
|
| * Michigan appointed electors who cast their votes before the state was admitted to the Union 26 Jan 1837. Anticipating a challenge to the results, the Congress passed a Concurrent Resolution (4 Feb 1837), requiring to declare the results "were the votes of Michigan to be counted" and "if not counted" (Congressional Globe, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, 151-153).
|
| Source of electoral results: Register of Debates, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, 1656-1657; House Journal, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, 358-359.
|
| |
| [1] |
Register of Debates, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, 1655-1658; House Journal, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, 343, 357-360; Congressional Globe, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, 152, 167. |
| [2] |
Senate Executive Journal, vol. V, 1-11. |
|
Image: photograph of Martin Van Buren (created between 1840 and 1862), Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. |
