Martin Van Buren (/væn ˈbjʊərən/ van BURE-ən; Dutch: Maarten van Buren [ˈmaːrtə(n) vɑm ˈbyːrə(n)] ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer, diplomat, and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he served as New York's attorney general and U.S. senator, then briefly as the ninth governor of New York before joining Andrew Jackson's administration as the tenth United States secretary of state, minister to Great Britain, and ultimately the eighth vice president when named Jackson's running mate for the 1832 election. Van Buren won the presidency in 1836 against divided Whig opponents. Van Buren lost re-election in 1840, and failed to win the Democratic nomination in 1844. Later in his life, Van Buren emerged as an elder statesman and an important anti-slavery leader who led the Free Soil Party ticket in the 1848 presidential election.
Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York, where most residents were of Dutch descent and spoke Dutch as their primary language; he is the only president to have spoken English as a second language. Trained as a lawyer, he entered politics as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, won a seat in the New York State Senate, and was elected to the United States Senate in 1821. As the leader of the Bucktails faction, Van Buren emerged as the most influential politician from New York in the 1820s and established a political machine known as the Albany Regency. He ran successfully for governor of New York to support Andrew Jackson's candidacy in the 1828 presidential election but resigned shortly after Jackson was inaugurated so he could accept appointment as Jackson's secretary of state. In the cabinet, Van Buren was a key Jackson advisor and built the organizational structure for the coalescing Democratic Party. He ultimately resigned to help resolve the Petticoat affair and briefly served as ambassador to Great Britain. At Jackson's behest, the 1832 Democratic National Convention nominated Van Buren for vice president, and he took office after the Democratic ticket won the 1832 presidential election.
With Jackson's strong support and the organizational strength of the Democratic Party, Van Buren successfully ran for president in the 1836 presidential election. However, his popularity soon eroded because of his response to the Panic of 1837, which centered on his Independent Treasury system, a plan under which the federal government of the United States would store its funds in vaults rather than in banks; more conservative Democrats and Whigs in Congress ultimately delayed his plan from being implemented until 1840. His presidency was further marred by the costly Second Seminole War and his refusal to admit Texas to the Union as a slave state. In 1840, Van Buren lost his re-election bid to William Henry Harrison. While Van Buren is praised for anti-slavery stances, in historical rankings, historians and political scientists often rank Van Buren as an average or below-average U.S. president, due to his handling of the Panic of 1837.
Van Buren was initially the leading candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination again in 1844, but his continued opposition to the annexation of Texas angered Southern Democrats, leading to the nomination of James K. Polk. Growing opposed to slavery, Van Buren was the newly formed Free Soil Party's presidential nominee in 1848, and his candidacy helped Whig nominee Zachary Taylor defeat Democrat Lewis Cass. Worried about sectional tensions, Van Buren returned to the Democratic Party after 1848 but was disappointed with the pro-southern presidencies of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. During the American Civil War, Van Buren was a War Democrat who supported the policies of President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican. He died of asthma at his home in Kinderhook in 1862, aged 79.
Martin Van Buren was born on December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York, about 20 miles south of Albany in the Hudson River valley.
His father, Abraham Van Buren, was a descendant of Cornelis Maessen, a native of Buurmalsen, Netherlands who had emigrated to New Netherland in 1631 and purchased a plot of land on Manhattan Island. Van Buren was the first U.S. president without any British ancestry; he was of entirely Dutch descent. Abraham Van Buren had been a Patriot during the American Revolution, and he later joined the Democratic-Republican Party. He owned an inn and tavern in Kinderhook and served as Kinderhook's town clerk for several years. In 1776, he married Maria Hoes (or Goes) Van Alen (1746–1818) in the town of Kinderhook, also of Dutch extraction and the widow of Johannes Van Alen (1744-c. 1773).
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- YIELDS
- 8
- COOK TIME
- 15 Min
Switch up your dinnertime routine by serving up our cheesy, baked Spinach and Artichoke Calzones. They're perfect for holding right in your hand and dunking into your favorite marinara sauce. You might just find yourself making these as an on-the-go lunch, too!
- 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 (9-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
- 1 cup chopped artichokes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 (13.8-ounce) containers refrigerated pizza crust dough
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- Cooking spray
- Preheat oven to 425º.
- In a large bowl, combine ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, spinach, artichokes, garlic powder, and pepper; mix well.
- Unroll pizza crusts onto a flat surface and cut each into 4 squares. Spoon an equal amount of spinach mixture onto each square, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle each with mozzarella cheese. Fold each in half diagonally to form triangles. Using a fork, crimp edges to firmly seal. Place calzones on baking sheets and spray lightly with cooking spray.
- Bake 13 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
***Serve these with marinara sauce.
1926 – Cloris Leachman, American actress (d.2021)
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