Van Buren's. Political and public career

Van Buren's enthusiasm for the ideas of Thomas Jefferson took him into politics as a Democratic-Republican (see Democratic-Republican Party). He was elected to the New York Senate in 1812. Shortly after his reelection to the Senate in 1816, Van Buren was appointed attorney general of New York. In this post, Van Buren helped form the first modern political machine, an organization that does favors for citizens in return for votes. His machine was known as the Albany Regency.

U.S. senator. In 1820, a split in the Democratic- Republican Party of New York gave Van Buren a chance to display his new political power. Governor De Witt Clinton tried to get John C. Spencer into the U.S. Senate through a special election. Van Buren opposed Clinton and successfully managed the election of Rufus King, an independent Federalist. A year later, when the other Senate seat was vacated, Van Buren's standing had so increased that the legislature elected him.

Van Buren's birthplace was in Kinderhook, N.Y. The house has been torn down, and the only record of what it looked like comes from drawings made during Van Buren's lifetime

Van Buren took his seat in the Senate on Dec. 3,1821. He became a leader in the fight against imprisonment for debt, a great social evil of the time. In 1828, Congress passed a law abolishing such imprisonment. Van Buren also tried to stop the extension of the slave trade. He introduced a bill forbidding the importation of slaves into Florida unless they were owned by settlers. This bill was defeated. Van Buren won reelection to the Senate in 1827. That year, he created an alliance between the Albany Regency and Virginia's powerful Democratic machine, the Richmond Junto. The two organizations backed Andrew Jackson for President because they thought he was most likely to preserve states' rights.

Secretary of state. Late in 1828, Van Buren resigned from the Senate after being elected governor of New York. He served as governor only two months then resigned to become secretary of state under President Jackson. Van Buren successfully pressed claims for damages to American shipping by French and Danish warships during the Napoleonic Wars. Under his leadership, the United States reestablished trade with the British West Indies. The British had closed West Indian ports to American shipping in 1826 in retaliation for high American tariffs on British goods.

Vice President. In 1831, Jackson appointed Van Buren U.S. minister to Britain. But the Senate, by one vote, refused to confirm the appointment. By this act, Van Buren's enemies thought they had destroyed his career. Jackson took the Senate's action as a personal insult. In 1832, he supported Van Buren's nomination to the vice presidency. Jackson also made it clear that Van Buren was his choice to be the next President. As Vice President, Van Buren reluctantly backed Jackson's decision to withdraw federal deposits from the Bank of the United States (see Bank of the United States). Van Buren also hesitated to support Jackson's actions to enforce federal authority after South Carolina declared a federal law unconstitutional (see Nullification).

Election of 1836. In spite of Van Buren's political beliefs, he retained Jackson's support and easily won the Democratic nomination for President in 1836. He defeated William Henry Harrison, the main Whig candidate, by 97 electoral votes. In the vice presidential race, no candidate won a majority of the electoral votes. The United States Senate then chose Van Buren's running mate, Representative Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky. No other Vice President has ever been elected by the Senate.