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5.0 out of 5 stars
Van Buren and the malestrom of early American politics, October 28, 2003
This review is from: Martin Van Buren, Eighth President of the United States (Encyclopedia of Presidents) (Library Binding)
All of the volumes in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series begin in media res, with the first chapter devoted to a pivotal and defining moment in the history of that particular President. For the story of Martin Van Buren author Jim Hargrove picks the Panic of 1837 for the book's opening, which actually started a month before the eighth president was sworn in to office. By focusing on the depression that followed, Hargrove presents Van Buren as pretty much the Herbert Hoover of 19th century American politics, although clearly it was the policies of Van Buren's predecessor, Andrew Jackson, who would bear the responsibility for the nation's financial crisis. However, as young readers will learn from this informative juvenile biography, it was Van Buren who played a major role in putting Old Hickory in the White House, which eventually led to him being Jackson's handpicked successor.
What makes this an above average volume in this series is that ultimately Hargrove is writing as much about American politics at the start of the 19th century as he is about Van Buren's personal life and political career. This volume probably has more political cartoons in it than any other in the series, which is rather significant since I have been reading the books in alphabetical rather than chronological order. Most of them focus on Jackson rather than Van Buren, but it was during Old Hickory's two terms in the White House that editorial cartooning first flourished, although its apex that century would be during the Civil War. By beginning the story of Van Buren's life with the fact he was the first future president born under the American flag, Hargrove emphasizes that this political career represents some significant changes from what we associate with the Founding Fathers as political figures.
After presenting Van Buren as a "new" politician, Hargrove traces the steadily climbing political career that saw Van Buren become a U.S. Senator, Governor of New York, Secretary of State, and Vice-President before entering the White House in time to preside over the first serious economic depression in the history of the new nation. However, this personal rise is completely tied to the formation of the Democratic Party and the quest to get Andrew Jackson into the White House. You have to remember that Andrew Jackson was the first candidate ever to win the popular vote three elections in a row (Cleveland was second and FDR was, amazingly enough, the third person to do it), which meant he was a major force in American politics for well over a decade. This might be background to Van Buren's life, but it is the most fascinating point of this juvenile biography.
The great irony of Van Buren's political life was that he did a lot better before and after being President, with an emphasis on the latter period when he was asked by President John Tyler to become a Supreme Court Justice to forestall him seeking the Democratic nomination in 1844, although it was not until 1848 that Van Buren ran again as the nominee of the Free-Soiler party, yet another interesting aspect of American political history that young readers will pick up from this volume. In addition to all of the wonderful political cartoons this volume has dozens of historic etchings, paintings, and such illustrating Martin Van Buren's life and times. The back of the volume includes a Chronology of American History, with Van Buren's life span shaded in gray. These are not the flashiest looking juvenile biographies of the American presidents available, but they certainly are among the most informative.
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