View source for Directory:Martin Van Buren

{{Infobox_President
| name=Martin Van Buren 
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| image=Martin Van Buren.jpg
| order=8th [[President of the United States]]
| term_start=[[March 4]], [[1837]]
| term_end=[[March 4]], [[1841]]
| predecessor=[[Andrew Jackson]]
| successor=[[William Henry Harrison]]
| birth_date={{birth date|1782|12|5|mf=y}}
| birth_place=[[Kinderhook (village), New York|Kinderhook]], [[New York]]
| death_date={{death date and age|1862|7|24|1782|12|5}}
| death_place=Kinderhook, New York
| Home State=New York
| spouse=Widowed [[Hannah Hoes Van Buren]] (daughter-in-law [[Angelica Van Buren]] was first lady)
| children=Abraham Van Buren <br> [[John Van Buren]] <br> Martin Van Buren (1812–55) <br> Smith Thompson Van Buren
| occupation=[[Lawyer]]
| party=[[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republican]], [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]], and [[Free Soil Party|Free Soil]]
| vicepresident=[[Richard Mentor Johnson]]
| religion=[[Reformed Church in America|Dutch Reformed]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Presidential_religious_affiliations#List_of_Presidential_religious_affiliations.2Fbeliefs_.28by_President.29]
| alma_mater=[[Kinderhook Academy]]
| signature=Martin Van Buren Signature.png
| order2=8th [[Vice President of the United States]]
| term_start2=[[March 4]], [[1833]]
| term_end2=[[March 4]], [[1837]]
| president2=[[Andrew Jackson]]
| predecessor2=[[John C. Calhoun]]
| successor2=[[Richard Mentor Johnson]]
| order3=10th [[United States Secretary of State]]
| president3=[[Andrew Jackson]]
| term_start3=[[March 28]], [[1829]]
| term_end3=[[May 23]], [[1831]]
| predecessor3=[[Henry Clay]]
| successor3=[[Edward Livingston]]
| order4= 9th [[Governor of New York]]
| lieutenant4= [[Enos T. Throop]]
| term_start4= [[January 1]], [[1829]]
| term_end4= [[March 5]], [[1829]]
| preceded4= [[Nathaniel Pitcher]]
| successor4= [[Enos T. Throop]]
| order5= [[United States Senator]] from [[New York]]
| term_start5= [[March 4]], [[1821]]
| term_end5= [[December 20]], [[1828]]
| preceded5= [[Nathan Sanford]]
| successor5= [[Charles E. Dudley]]
| order6= [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary]]
| term_start6= [[1823]]
| term_end6= [[1828]]
| preceded6= [[William Smith (South Carolina senator)|William Smith]]
| successor6= [[John Macpherson Berrien]]
|}}
'''Martin Van Buren''' ([[December 5]] [[1782]] &ndash; [[July 24]] [[1862]]), nicknamed ''Old [[Kinderhook (village), New York|Kinderhook]]'', was the eighth [[President of the United States]] from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency, he served as the eighth [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] (1833-1837) and the 10th [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] under [[Andrew Jackson]]. He was a key organizer of the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]], a dominant figure in the [[Second Party System]], and the first president who was not of English, Irish, Welsh, or Scottish descent.  He was the first president to be born an American citizen<ref>http://www.hoover.nara.gov/exhibits/cottages/middleclass/vanburen.html</ref> (his predecessors were born before the revolution); he is also the only president not to have spoken English as a first language, having grown up speaking [[Dutch language|Dutch]]{{Fact|date=April 2008}}. 

Van Buren was the first of a series of eight presidents between [[Andrew Jackson]] and [[Abraham Lincoln]] who served one term or less.  He also was one of the central figures in developing modern political organizations. As [[Andrew Jackson]]'s Secretary of State and then Vice President, he was a key figure in building the organizational structure for [[Jacksonian democracy]], particularly in New York State.  However, as a President, his administration was largely characterized by the economic hardship of his time, the [[Panic of 1837]]. Between the bloodless [[Aroostook War]] and the [[Caroline Affair]], relations with Britain and its colonies in Canada also proved to be strained. Whether or not these are directly his fault, Van Buren was voted out of office after four years, with a close popular vote but a rout in the electoral vote.  In 1848 he ran for president on a third party ticket, the [[Free Soil Party]].