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Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren ran for President four times, was nominated three times, but elected only once, the first time. He was born in Kinderhook NY om 1782. He became a lawyer at an early age. In 1802, Van Buren moved to [ny:newyork] to continue his studies. He was admitted to the bar in 1803. He liked the political ideas of Thomas Jefferson and became involved in the Democratic-Republican Party. In 1821, he was elected to the United States Senate and in 1828 became Governor of New York. After serving only two months, he joined the cabinet of Andrew Jackson as Secretary of State. Jackson made him his vice-presidential candidate in 1832 and supported his election in 1836.

The financial panic of 1837 was not Van Buren's fault, but his popularity suffered. Although he was renominated by the Democrats in 1840, the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison defeated him. He lost the nomination in 1844 to James K. Polk. In 1848, he was nominated by the antislavery Free Soil Party but was defeated. He died at his estate Lindenwald in New York in 1862.