1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:08,059 Martin Van Buren was no stranger to politics, but he was a unique character on the political 2 00:00:08,059 --> 00:00:13,469 scene in the 1830s. What made him unique was not the fact that he had served as Secretary 3 00:00:13,469 --> 00:00:18,690 of State under Andrew Jackson or that he had replaced John C. Calhoun as Vice President 4 00:00:18,690 --> 00:00:25,390 after the Nullification Crisis of 1832; instead, Van Buren was the first of our presidents 5 00:00:25,390 --> 00:00:32,250 to have been born after the American Revolution, and, as such, represented a new breed, a break 6 00:00:32,250 --> 00:00:39,570 from the past, from the war heroes, the soldier-scholars, the landed gentry and the career diplomats. 7 00:00:39,570 --> 00:00:44,970 He was, in every sense of the word, the son of immigrants, born to a family of Dutch migrants 8 00:00:44,970 --> 00:00:51,150 who came to this country looking for a better life. They settled in Kinderhook, New York, 9 00:00:51,150 --> 00:00:57,940 and it is here that Martin Van Buren was born. These strong immigrant roots never left Van 10 00:00:57,940 --> 00:01:03,239 Buren, and we are told that, even in the prime of his political life, he still spoke with 11 00:01:03,239 --> 00:01:09,539 a strong Dutch accent. Yet none of this stopped Van Buren from rising to the top of the political 12 00:01:09,539 --> 00:01:15,039 world through a combination of intelligence, political acumen, and the ability to choose 13 00:01:15,039 --> 00:01:19,079 allies that would benefit him personally. 14 00:01:19,079 --> 00:01:27,549 By 1836, Van Buren had been involved in politics for over 37 years. He knew how to win elections, 15 00:01:27,549 --> 00:01:33,600 he knew how to run campaigns, and he knew how to govern. He had seasoned himself politically 16 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:40,009 in state and local politics early in his life, was elected to the senate, and served in Jackson's 17 00:01:40,009 --> 00:01:46,249 cabinet - and as his vice president. Things had fallen into place nicely for Van Buren, 18 00:01:46,249 --> 00:01:52,709 so much so that by 1836, he was well-positioned to ride Andrew Jackson's coattails all the 19 00:01:52,709 --> 00:01:58,039 way to the Oval Office. By 1835, it had become obvious to political 20 00:01:58,039 --> 00:02:03,630 observers both inside Jackson's political party and to potential Whig opposition that 21 00:02:03,630 --> 00:02:09,899 Van Buren was to be the successor to the old war hero, not John C. Calhoun. Van Buren had 22 00:02:09,899 --> 00:02:16,530 served Jackson well, and the party handily nominated him as their candidate for president. 23 00:02:16,530 --> 00:02:21,959 It was the shared belief of the party that while Van Buren was his own man, he would 24 00:02:21,959 --> 00:02:28,680 continue Jacksonianism without Jackson. Try as they might, the old anti-Jackson forces 25 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:35,030 aligned against Van Buren in the Whig party had no viable candidate to stand in the election. 26 00:02:35,030 --> 00:02:41,180 Their strategy was to be one of divide and conquer, hoping to split the electoral vote 27 00:02:41,180 --> 00:02:46,159 with multiple candidates and force the election into the House of Representatives. But they 28 00:02:46,159 --> 00:02:52,489 were no match for the experience of Van Buren or the gravitas that Jackson lent to the ticket. 29 00:02:52,489 --> 00:02:57,860 Van Buren was also a master at the grassroots campaign, sending out representatives and 30 00:02:57,860 --> 00:03:03,709 making use of the press to get his message out to all levels of society, not relying 31 00:03:03,709 --> 00:03:09,430 solely on Washington politicians. As expected, the Whigs attempted to drag him 32 00:03:09,430 --> 00:03:14,640 down and their attacks on his stances and policies mirrored many of their attacks on 33 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:21,239 Andrew Jackson, but it was to no avail. Van Buren and the Democratic Party had superior 34 00:03:21,239 --> 00:03:28,959 organization in 1836, and ultimately, their voters turned out in large numbers, more than 35 00:03:28,959 --> 00:03:35,280 the Whigs could match. By the time all votes were counted, Van Buren had secured electoral 36 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:42,189 victory with 170 votes. He needed only 148 to win. 37 00:03:42,189 --> 00:03:47,599 While an able president, Van Buren's administration was not marked by any great accomplishment 38 00:03:47,599 --> 00:03:53,790 or event that would set him apart from his predecessors. In many ways he kept Jacksonian 39 00:03:53,790 --> 00:03:59,079 policies alive, but he did seek to branch out on his own in directions differing from 40 00:03:59,079 --> 00:04:06,319 Jackson. It won him no great accolades from his contemporaries or in our history books. 41 00:04:06,319 --> 00:04:11,469 On the issue of Indian removal, he had the unfortunate job of overseeing the Trail of 42 00:04:11,469 --> 00:04:17,160 Tears. As you may recall from another lesson, the Trail of Tears was the forced removal 43 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:22,780 of the Cherokee Indians from their native lands east of the Mississippi, a job overseen 44 00:04:22,780 --> 00:04:29,880 by the U.S. military and carried out in order to seize their lands for white settlers. Thousands 45 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:36,170 died, and it brought an end to last independent tribes in the East. 46 00:04:36,170 --> 00:04:41,550 As for the issue of Texas independence, which had erupted during the Jackson administration, 47 00:04:41,550 --> 00:04:48,100 Van Buren shocked many when he denied their petition to join the United States in 1837, 48 00:04:48,100 --> 00:04:54,310 seeking to ease tensions with Mexico and search for a diplomatic solution to the problem. 49 00:04:54,310 --> 00:04:59,850 On the issue of slavery, he held it to be morally wrong but believed the Constitution 50 00:04:59,850 --> 00:05:06,400 justified its existence and that unless the Constitution could be changed, slavery would 51 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:13,510 - and should - continue. He felt it his solemn duty to be uncompromising on this issue, adhering 52 00:05:13,510 --> 00:05:18,680 to the notion that the letter of the law came before personal feeling. 53 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:23,990 An opponent of the Bank of the United States, he tried to reform America's financial system 54 00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:30,020 by lowering tariffs and promoting free trade. He also wanted to establish an independent 55 00:05:30,020 --> 00:05:37,180 Treasury system that gave the U.S. Treasury control of all federal funds and legal tender. 56 00:05:37,180 --> 00:05:41,740 He was also in favor of domestic improvements to infrastructure but believed the projects 57 00:05:41,740 --> 00:05:47,350 should be primarily the responsibility of the states. Those were bold steps to be sure, 58 00:05:47,350 --> 00:05:54,010 but the biggest issue facing his administration was the Panic of 1837 and the resulting five 59 00:05:54,010 --> 00:05:59,480 years of depression that followed. Quite simply, Van Buren had few financial 60 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:05,390 tools as president to stop the collapse of the financial markets. Congress was equally 61 00:06:05,390 --> 00:06:10,550 helpless. The course correction that was needed in the market would come only after the banks 62 00:06:10,550 --> 00:06:16,750 that deserved to fail did fail. The resulting unemployment was costly across the country 63 00:06:16,750 --> 00:06:22,580 and made Van Buren very unpopular, as people laid the blame for much of the trouble squarely 64 00:06:22,580 --> 00:06:27,380 on the President's shoulders. By 1840, the Whigs were better organized and 65 00:06:27,380 --> 00:06:33,170 prepared to deal with Van Buren. The economic depression that began as soon as he took office 66 00:06:33,170 --> 00:06:38,440 hurt Van Buren substantially, and the Whigs laid the blame squarely at the feet of Van 67 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:43,400 Buren and at that of his party. It also helped the Whigs that they had finally 68 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:49,190 learned a thing or two about winning elections from being trounced so many times by the Democrats. 69 00:06:49,190 --> 00:06:54,870 They knew enough to choose a candidate that would have mass appeal and around whom a political 70 00:06:54,870 --> 00:07:01,080 myth could be constructed very similar to that which had been constructed around Andrew 71 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,270 Jackson. What they needed was a decent man, a good 72 00:07:04,270 --> 00:07:10,490 man, a war hero at the top of their ticket - someone the masses would respect and accept 73 00:07:10,490 --> 00:07:17,870 as tough, uncompromising, and patriotic, embodying all of the American spirit. A man such as 74 00:07:17,870 --> 00:07:23,610 this at the top of the Whig ticket would, they hoped, secure them the White House. To 75 00:07:23,610 --> 00:07:31,410 that end, they nominated General William Henry Harrison for president. 76 00:07:31,410 --> 00:07:36,710 Harrison was well-educated and from a good family, but he was also a war hero and an 77 00:07:36,710 --> 00:07:42,630 Indian fighter in the same vein as Andrew Jackson - at least in the minds of the Whigs. 78 00:07:42,630 --> 00:07:47,790 But as with politics today, Harrison's image would be molded and shaped to fit the Whig 79 00:07:47,790 --> 00:07:53,440 agenda; all that was missing was a Vice President who could secure the South. 80 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:59,260 They found such a man in a states' rights politician named John Tyler, and with that, 81 00:07:59,260 --> 00:08:05,220 the Whig ticket was set. In one fell swoop, the Whigs had outmaneuvered the Democrats 82 00:08:05,220 --> 00:08:11,930 at their own game, choosing symbolism over the substance of political stalwarts and influential 83 00:08:11,930 --> 00:08:17,540 statesmen in their own party, including Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, men who had at one 84 00:08:17,540 --> 00:08:23,400 time or another ran for president and hacked away at the popularity of Andrew Jackson and 85 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,990 his administration's policies. The strategy would continue into the campaign, 86 00:08:27,990 --> 00:08:33,269 as the 1840 presidential race would become characterized as the first political circus, 87 00:08:33,269 --> 00:08:39,479 meaning it had all the trappings and hoopla of a modern political campaign. His wealthy, 88 00:08:39,479 --> 00:08:45,070 slave-owning family past was largely ignored, and instead Harrison was portrayed as a humble 89 00:08:45,070 --> 00:08:52,570 man of the people, born and raised in hardship, even adopting a log cabin as a symbol of his 90 00:08:52,570 --> 00:08:56,370 campaign. Hyperbole abounded on both sides as candidates 91 00:08:56,370 --> 00:09:03,110 were awash with color, flags, and slogans, such as 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,' meant 92 00:09:03,110 --> 00:09:08,740 to rally the base for the former Indian-fighter Harrison in much the same way the people rallied 93 00:09:08,740 --> 00:09:14,990 behind Jackson. It worked. Van Buren's party could not match this rhetoric, and what is 94 00:09:14,990 --> 00:09:20,720 more, they had a record that could be criticized at will. No amount of slogans could erase 95 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:28,610 the four years of economic woes, and Harrison coasted to victory by winning 234 electoral 96 00:09:28,610 --> 00:09:33,910 votes to Van Buren's 60. In the eyes of Washington and the American 97 00:09:33,910 --> 00:09:39,940 public they had just elected a great man, a true leader of men. But President Harrison 98 00:09:39,940 --> 00:09:45,680 had no desire to be the kind of leader that Andrew Jackson was nor involve himself in 99 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:51,070 the political minutia as had Van Buren. By the time of his inauguration he was the 100 00:09:51,070 --> 00:09:56,930 oldest man to serve in office - only Ronald Reagan would be older - and his age and experience 101 00:09:56,930 --> 00:10:02,680 brought wisdom, a wisdom to avoid the fights and mistakes of those who sought to extend 102 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:08,720 executive power beyond what he believed the founding fathers had intended. 103 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:15,730 Simply put, Harrison believed in the strict separation of powers and had no intention 104 00:10:15,730 --> 00:10:21,570 of using the veto in a manner similar to Jackson, essentially giving a Whig-controlled Congress 105 00:10:21,570 --> 00:10:27,830 the green light to move forward on their agenda. And so it was after his inauguration that 106 00:10:27,830 --> 00:10:33,400 Harrison settled down in the White House to craft an administration far different than 107 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:38,950 that which came before, and across the way in Congress, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster 108 00:10:38,950 --> 00:10:44,920 eagerly vied for power, knowing that Congress under Harrison would become more powerful 109 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:49,120 than it had been under either Jackson or Van Buren. 110 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:53,830 Whether Harrison could have been an effective president will never be known, for just a 111 00:10:53,830 --> 00:11:02,790 few weeks after his inauguration he contracted pneumonia and died on April 4, 1841. His election 112 00:11:02,790 --> 00:11:08,150 made him the oldest man at the time to serve as president, and his untimely death of pneumonia 113 00:11:08,150 --> 00:11:13,690 made Harrison's term in office the shortest of any American president, lasting only 30 114 00:11:13,690 --> 00:11:16,600 days. As he lay dying, he summoned the energy to 115 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:24,600 speak one last time, and we are told he directed his last words to his vice president, 'Sir, 116 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:32,090 I wish you to understand the true principles of government. I wish them carried out. I 117 00:11:32,090 --> 00:11:38,570 ask nothing more.' And with that, the ninth president of the United States, and another 118 00:11:38,570 --> 00:11:45,970 American hero, had passed. Thus ended a busy five years, years that saw 119 00:11:45,970 --> 00:11:53,510 America finally move away from Jacksonian politics to a new era ushered in by a Whig-controlled 120 00:11:53,510 --> 00:12:00,029 White House. Van Buren had been an able politician, but the legacy of Jackson's expanding presidential 121 00:12:00,029 --> 00:12:06,360 power made the task of dealing with America's fiscal problems, Indian issues, and unruly 122 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:13,330 states difficult for any man who lacked Andrew Jackson's political force of will and popularity. 123 00:12:13,330 --> 00:12:17,839 The task of dealing with these issues and keeping the Union together would now fall 124 00:12:17,839 --> 00:12:25,700 upon President Tyler, and only time would tell if he and his party were up to the challenge.