Martin Van Buren Timeline

Van Buren defeated Whig candidate William Henry Harrison in the 1836 election, carrying the popular and electoral vote with Richard M. Johnson elected vice president by the Senate. He became the third sitting vice president to be elected directly to the presidency.

Image source: 1836 United States presidential election

Despite pressure from expansionists and Southern Democrats, Van Buren resisted the annexation of Texas, fearing war with Mexico and the sectional conflict that slavery expansion would provoke. His stance angered pro-slavery Southerners and contributed to his loss of their support in 1844.

Image source: Texas annexation

Van Buren carried out the Indian removal policies begun under Jackson, most infamously overseeing the forced removal of Cherokee and other nations. The Trail of Tears in 1838 resulted in thousands of deaths among Native Americans relocated west of the Mississippi River.

Image source: Trail of Tears

Martin Van Buren took the oath of office from Chief Justice Roger Taney on the Capitol steps. Riding to the ceremony with outgoing President Andrew Jackson, he pledged to continue Jacksonian policies, declaring 'I only look forward' in his inaugural address.

Image source: Inauguration of Martin Van Buren

Just weeks into Van Buren's presidency, a severe financial crisis erupted when banks suspended specie payments. Triggered by speculative lending, falling cotton prices, and Jackson's Specie Circular, the Panic of 1837 plunged the nation into a deep depression that dominated Van Buren's entire term.

Image source: Panic of 1837

Responding to the panic, Van Buren called a special session of Congress and proposed divorcing the federal government from private banks by creating an Independent Treasury. After years of fierce debate, Congress passed the act establishing it in 1840.

Image source: Independent Treasury

Canadian rebels used the American steamboat Caroline for supply runs before Canadian loyalists destroyed it near Niagara Falls, killing an American. The incident inflamed anti-British sentiment and created a serious diplomatic crisis early in Van Buren's presidency.

Image source: Caroline affair

A bloodless confrontation broke out between Maine lumberjacks and New Brunswick authorities over the contested Maine-New Brunswick border. Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott to negotiate a truce, averting war and paving the way for the eventual Webster-Ashburton Treaty settlement.

Image source: Aroostook War

Van Buren's administration sought to return captive Africans aboard the schooner Amistad to Spanish authorities, but former President John Quincy Adams argued successfully before the Supreme Court. The Court ruled the captives were free, a setback for the administration's pro-slavery diplomacy.

Image source: United States v. The Amistad

After three years of legislative battles, Congress approved Van Buren's plan to place federal funds in an independent treasury rather than in private banks. The Sub-Treasury Act became the centerpiece of his administration and a lasting reform of federal finance.

Blamed for the economic depression, Van Buren lost decisively to Whig William Henry Harrison in 1840. The campaign featured memorable sloganeering like 'Tippecanoe and Tyler Too,' and Harrison's 'Log Cabin' imagery portrayed Van Buren as an aristocrat despite his humble origins.

Image source: 1840 United States presidential election

In one of his final acts as president, Van Buren signed the Preemption Act, allowing squatters on federal land to purchase up to 160 acres at minimum prices before public auction. The law encouraged westward settlement and reflected the era's democratic land policy.

Van Buren returned to his estate, Lindenwald, in Kinderhook, New York, where he lived until his death. Far from retiring quietly, he continued to play an active role in Democratic politics from his home, which is now a National Historic Site.

Image source: Martin Van Buren National Historic Site

Van Buren entered the 1844 Democratic convention as the frontrunner, but his opposition to immediate annexation of Texas cost him Southern support. Delegates nominated James K. Polk instead, the first dark-horse nominee in American history.

Image source: 1844 Democratic National Convention

Breaking with the Democrats over slavery's expansion, Van Buren accepted the nomination of the Free Soil Party in 1848, running with Charles Francis Adams. He won about ten percent of the popular vote but no electoral votes, helping Zachary Taylor defeat Democrat Lewis Cass in New York.

Image source: Free Soil Party

In his final years, Van Buren supported the Compromise of 1850 as a means of preserving the Union, drifting back toward Democratic allegiance. His willingness to back concessions on slavery drew criticism from antislavery former Free Soilers.

Image source: Compromise of 1850

Van Buren died at Lindenwald in Kinderhook, New York, at age 79, suffering from bronchial asthma and heart failure. He was buried beside his wife Hannah at the Reformed Dutch Church cemetery in Kinderhook, having witnessed the Civil War's outbreak during his final months.

Van Buren worked extensively on his memoirs in retirement, including an Inquiry into the Origin and Course of Political Parties in the United States. Published posthumously in 1867, these works offered valuable insight into the formation of America's second party system.