Customer Reviews

Martin Van Buren: The American Presidents Series: The 8th President, 1837-1841 (American Presidents (Times))

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Martin van Buren is one of those forgotten one term American Presidents, trapped between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. As the political boss of New York, he worked himself into the presidency with an impressive resume: secretary of state, ambassador to England, senator, vice president. Then his career came to a screeching halt.

As a conservative who believed in the supremacy of states' rights over federal intervention, President Van Buren played a minimum role in the depression of 1837 or the disputes over slavery. He was a politician who did not led and lost the 1840 election as a result.

This brief book (200+ pages) has the refreshing advantage of being written by a political operative (Mr. Widmer was a member of the Clinton Admnistration) who understands the practice of politics. It is well-written and to the point. However this is not the definitive biography of Martin Van Buren -- for that honor, the reader is directed to the 700+ pages biography by John Niven (1983).

If you want a book about the highlights (and only the highlights) of Martin Van Buren's public service career then buy this book.

This book had alot of gaps in it. It kept saying that he was an up and coming star and that he was a political mastermind, but it never once said why he was a star and what manuevers he made to make him a mastermind.

I agree with the other reviewer about Bill Clinton. This was supposed to be a book about the 8th president not the 42nd. I found the constant refrences to Bill Clinton to be out of place. I guess that the author was drawing on his own experience with a president.

The only reason that I bought this book is that it is a short and concise biography of Van Buren. I am trying to read a biography of each of the presidents and did not want to spend alot of time reading a 500-600+ page book on one of the lesser known presidents. I think that the book could have been longer (say about 300 to 350 pages)in order to further detail the career of Van Buren.

I've read probably more than my share of presidential biographies and this book is probably the worst (as in "unprofessionally written") bio I have ever come across. Period.
It's not the subject. It's Mr. Widmer's flippant, "terminally hip", straight-out-of-People-Magaine, style of writing.

What do I mean? Well, the first thing that struck me was that though the book is not very long -- which given the fairly obscure subject matter is understandable -- the rambling intro to this work IS long. We're talking someting like twenty+ pages!

I kept reading page after page after page of the intro and found myself wondering "Ok. So where's the actually book??" I mean, was the author getting paid by the word or something?

And the work itself...again, "flippant" is the work that pretty much sums it up. Ex-president Bill Clinton was mentioned more than once, as well as BC and his intern Monica L. were also mention (in a book about Martin Van Buren?), The sainted (to Mr. Widmer) FDR is also mentioned several times, likewise Hollywood's Steven Spielburg and TV-producer Aaron Spelling... yeah, I know. In about about Martin Van Buren?? But then, I just said these folks were mentioned in Mr. Widmer's book. I didn't say that had any thing to DO with the subject of the book.

In addition, there were terrible gaps/unresolved events in VB life that the writer skipped over. For example: The young VB, an up and coming legal eagle, goes to NYC and there hones his legal skills + moves in very lofty circles + became close friends of titans like Aaron Burr, etc., and then, we are told, that after 6 years of this that VB up and left NYC to become a law partner with this step-brother in some little town in upstate NY. The end. Huh??

A young, rising attorney moving strickly "Class A" social circles in NYC, suddenly drops everything and buries himself in the country? And there's no explaination by the writer. Probably b/c he doesn't know either.

Another example, VB's wife suddenly dies (She just dies. No accident, no illness, her time just ran out) and he is left widower with three young sons. What arrangements does he make for those children, esp. as he is now a mover-and-shaker in DC by now. Again, we'll never know. The three boys simply ***PPIFF*** off the radar and we (the readers) don't learn of them again until they are young men. Granted, it's not vital but it is a loose end, and it would go a long way in fleshing out the personal side of VB. Again, maybe the writer himself didn't know.

And so it goes....

The book is littered with things like this: dead ends, loose ends, and washed out bridges. This book isn't writing. It's pop journalism. Strickly "People" magazine school of journalism. I gave it one star b/c, heck, if you can pick it up for a quarter at a yard sale go ahead and get it, read it. Otherwise, save your money.

This is one of the books in "The American Presidents" series, focusing on Martin Van Buren. The overall series editor, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., speaks of what is at stake with the presidency, in his series introduction (Page xv): "But a system based on the tripartite separation of powers [executive, legislative, and judiciary] has an inherent tendency toward inertia and stalemate. One of the three branches must take the initiative if the system is to move. The executive branch alone is structurally capable of taking that initiative."

In this book, we learn of the presidency of Martin Van Buren, sometimes called the Red Fox of Kinderhook, after his home town. He began in extremely modest circumstances to work his way up to the top position in American politics.

In the process, he masterminded some major political inventions, such as the party caucus, the national presidential nominating convention, the patronage system, a publicity network, and the Democratic Party itself. Obviously, he did not do these things alone, but he was a key figure in the development of a new political structure and framework, far different from that of the early years of the republic. Indeed, as the book points out, he helped p[popularize the term "OK."

The book describes his rise in politics and his clever political machinations. He hitched his wagon to the political star of Andrew Jackson, and that helped propel his rise. He was also a successful elected politicians, from his years in the New York state political scene. There, he helped form the "Albany Regency," one of the earliest stable political organizations.

He was a Democrat, and also favored a more democratic process. Between 1826 and 1828, according to the author, Van Buren began the process of developing a modern political party. It is ironic that as he ascended the political ladder to attain the presidency, he ran into an economic disaster that doomed his presidency. The book discusses that, although there is not the detail one might wish. He did have some successes, but he ended up a one term president (although he tried another run later on--and failed). Then, the later years in his life are discussed.

For a person who wants a quick literate introduction to Martin Van Buren (derided by some as "Van Van the Washed Up Man" after his defeat in the re-election campaign), this ought to do the trick. A good read. . . .

Starting with Martin Van Buren, the Presidential pantheon gets a bit slim (in terms of perceived popularity). Luckily, author Ted Widmer's exciting writing style makes this book the best in the series I've read so far.

This book covers all the important moments of Van Buren's political career, including his early years (crafting what would eventually morph into the current Democratic party), one presidential term (major issues: slavery, annexation of Texas, financial panic), and later years (late presidential run from entirely different party). Widmer also provides some color to Van Buren the person, letting the readers know what kind of man he was.

For some reason, Widmer's writing style is heavily criticized on this site, but I feel just the opposite. Whereas sometimes the earlier books in this series got bogged down in details, I like the effort here to lighten things up a bit and use current-world examples/terminology to explain the permutations of Van Buren's life and times.

Thus, please continue your trek through the Presidents here. Not too much information, but just enough to give you a portrait of our eighth commander in chief.

The short volumes in the American Presidents series edited by Arthur Schleisinger, Jr. and Sean Wilentz offer good introductions to the presidents, American history and the quality of leadership. Each volume is written by a different scholar, and the varied perspectives they bring to their subjects is enlightening. Ted Widmer, a former speechwriter for President Clinton and the director of the V.C. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College, wrote this biography of the eighth president Martin Van Buren. I found the writing of the book engaging. Widmer did a good deal of careful research in unfamiliar sources, including for example Davy Crockett's 1835 biography, Jabez Hammond's 1842 study "The History of Political Parties in New York", which Widmer claims ranks among the best studies of the American political process, and Van Buren's own obscure autobiographical memoir. With his background in the Clinton presidency, Widmer tends to be overly partisan in commenting on contemporary political issues.

The volumes may be especially valuable for some of the more obscure presidents because there tends to be less written about them. With respect to Van Buren, Widmer observes (at 167):

"[T]o this day, there have been sufficiently few biographies of Martin Van Buren that a reader with time on his hands (and what other kind of Van Buren acolyte is there?) can reasonably expect to read every work on Van Buren ever written --something that would be impossible to say about the other giants of the early republic."

Van Buren (1782 -- 1862) served a single term as the eighth president (1837 -- 1841) following the presidency of Andrew Jackson. His presidency was unsuccessful because it coincided with the Panic of 1837, possible the worst economic downturn in the United States before the Great Depression. The Panic had been fueled by overspeculation and likely by imprudent fiscal policies in the Jackson administration in which Van Buren had played a large role.

Van Buren's presidency occupies only about one-third of this volume. As Widmer points out, his importance lies elsewhere, both before and after his presidency. Born to humble origins in a small New York village, Van Buren became the founder of modern American party politics. As a young man in the New York State legislature, he quickly gained control of the political machine of the Democratic party. Upon election to the United States Senate in 1821, Van Buren expanded the party into a national organization by imposing strict party discipline and by forming broad coalitions. Thus Van Buren formed a tenuous alliance with Southern democrats which required much compromising and which shattered prior to the Civil War. Following the presidency of James Monroe, Van Buren became the campaign manager for the doomed candidacy of William Crawford, but he came into his own in 1828, four years later as the manager for Andrew Jackson's successful campaign. Through a combination of intruigue, back room deals, and his own merit, Van Buren succeeded Jackson to the presidency.

Van Buren's major accomplishment was in his creation of the large national two-party political system and of the mastery of rough-and-tumble politics. Widmer writes perceptively (p.57):

[E]vidence of opposition parties is one of the most important ways to measure the vital signs of an emerging democracy... Van Buren, while not a radical thinker, deserves full credit for realizing this truth ahead of his compatriots. It was a huge contribution, lost in the the obscurity of the early republic, somewhere between the Erie canal and the Tariff of Abominations, but more important than either. Not only is the spirit of party not hostile to democracy, it is essential to it. We are all familiar with the deficiencis of the two-party system- the acrimony, gridlock, and corruption that taint the process more than we care to admit. However, there is a fundamental balance at its core -- an internal gyroscope based on brute competition-- that has allowed this system
to continue, with only a few modifications, from 1828 to the present. This gyroscope was built by Van Buren."

Widmer also points out that Van Buren made important, less well-remembered contributions to American life following his presidency. On some occasions, hee moved away from a pragmatic, hard-edged politics towards a politics based upon principle. Thus, in 1844 Van Buren was the front-runner for the presidential nomination, but he spoke in opposition to the annexation of Texas. Andrew Jackson withdrew his support of his former ally, and the nomination went to James K. Polk. Then, in 1848, Van Buren grew dissilusioned with the national Democratic party he had done much to create because of its stand on slavery. He ran as a third-party candidate, showing the wedge that slavery had brought to the two-party system, for the Free Soil Party and captured ten percent of the popular vote. This vote was enough to deny the Democratic party the presidency and to elect Zachary Taylor. Until his death in 1862, Van Buren remained a staunch supporter of the Union and of the efforts of President Lincoln to preserve it.

Widmer offers a good short portrait of Van Buren and his era. Readers wanting a more detailed study of this period of American history with themes similar to Widmer's might explore Sean Wilentz' book, "The Rise of American Democracy." The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln

Robin Friedman

This is a well-written book. Very enjoyable and concise biograph of an under-rated President.

This is an excellent book - period.

I read dozens of presidential biographies per year, most of which are well over 500 pages. I like the long detailed biographies and do not generally like ones that are too short. I usually find them uninteresting and hurried.

This is a short biography; however, I really enjoyed. I found the writing style refreshing and, I believe, Widmer did an excellent job of hitting on the most important points about Van Buren and the Jacksonian period. Because Widmer is writing to the non-historian, he does a great job of explaining things that may be confusing or unfamiliar to the reader. He provides just enough information to explain it, tell why it is significant, and to make it interesting.

I believe that this is exactly what the historian and editor of the series, Arthur Schlesinger, had in mind when he started "The American Presidents series" - a short biography that explains 1) who the president was, 2) what were the times like when they served, and 3) why were they important to history. In these objectives, Ted Widmer succeeded beautifully and I strongly recommend this book as a starting point for Martin Van Buren, the Jacksonian Period, and the founding of the Democratic party.

I give Widmer and his book five stars because I think it did a masterful job of fulfilling its purpose - giving the reader an enjoyable introduction to an important person in history.

By the way, each of the books in this series has the same long intro from Arthur Schlesinger. It explains the importance of the presidents and the purpose for the series. If you, like one of the other reviewers does not like it, just skip it. Consider it an added bonus if you chose to read it.

Ted Widmer's new biography of Martin Buren sets out to rescue this forgotten president from obscurity and give him much of the credit for creating the modern Democratic party. The book that emerges is a solid, engaging introduction to a president most of us know nothing about. (Were you aware, for example, that he grew up in Kinderhook, NY speaking Dutch before he ever spoke English?)

Widmer sketches Van Buren's rapid rise from poverty to power in New York, his unlikely alliance with Andrew Jackson, and his own one-term presidency cursed by the 19th century version of the Great Depression (The Great Panic of 1837) and the increasingly rancorous national debate over slavery. He paints a compelling picture of Van Buren trying to stake out the middle ground, a hated by both sides as he clings to a center that will not hold.

One thing that seems to stand out 150 years after Van Buren's death is the irrational intensity of the hatred directed against him, seemingly all out of proportion to his deeds or alleged misdeeds. Widmer worked for another centrist president who inspired a good deal of hatred-Bill Clinton-and one senses that the parallels there may be part of the reason he was drawn to Van Buren as a subject.

His thesis that Van Buren almost singlehandly gave birth to the modern political party is intriguing, but perhaps a bit of a stretch. His arguments reminded me of a prosecutor who makes a bold opening statement about the defendant's guilt, but then can't quite back it up with the evidence. He may well be right, but I'm not entirely convinced. Still, it is a thought provoking idea that helps readers get a handle on Van Buren.

Widmer's style incorporates a bit of the speechwriter and a bit of the scholar, and benefits from both. He throws in numerous modern political and pop culture references (from George Bush to Vito Corleone) that are only occasionally annoying, and he keeps the story moving forward at a good pace. (At 208 pages, the book is anything but a heavy tome). There are some amusing anecdotes-my favorite is a wonderful story of Van Buren as a former president stuck in a small town on a national tour and spending a hilarious evening of storytelling in the company of a young politician on the rise named Abraham Lincoln.

Ultimately, Van Buren remains elusive, hard to know. Was he an idealist trying to steer a moderate course, or a politician adept at being all things to all people? (Again, the echoes of Bill Clinton). One thing we know for sure: he is the president who popularized the expression "O.K." in his 1840 re-election bid (one of his many nicknames was "Old Kinderhook") and he deserves to be remembered. This book is a good way to do so.

Nothing spectacular, but a reasonable introduction to an important founder of party politics. I am also working my way through the presidential biographies and try to balance between too much information (Thomas Jefferson's yearly plantings) and not enough (this may be one of those). I didn't know much about Van Buren and like to get the whole life story to understand where they came from and its influence on their lives. I had purchased another Van Buren biography, but it started with his presidency and maybe sometime in the future I'll get back to more details. This tome was reasonably satisfying in that way. This was a very quick read. I did like some of the references to modern day politics in the context of historical placement. This was a driven, but sad man, who had the misfortune of being in the end, in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I did learn the interesting facts that the words "booze" and "okay" were invented during his tenure and the his VP Johnson was quite a character. So picking the right VP turns out to be more important than people thought after all, as evidenced by the next presidency in the series.