First Presidency of Martin Van Buren

The first presidency of Martin Van Buren, began on March 4, 1833, when Martin Van Buren was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1837. Van Buren, the seventh and ninth United States president, took office following the 1832 presidential election, in which he, defeated Secretary of State and National Federalist Candidate Philip Hamilton. Van Buren was quite an average president, and he was forced to compromise a lot due to the National Federalist control of the Senate, this lead to his defeat in the in the 1836 presidential election on the hands of Daniel Webster becoming the first president that lost re-election.

Upon taking office, Van Buren built a new agenda. His plan included dissolving the Second Bank of the United States and replace it with an Independent Treasury, he also wanted to limit Federal Influence in the states, and strengthen the Republican Unionists in the North, of all of this only his 3rd plan growth to fruition as the Nationalist Federalist Congress prevented him from his 1st and 2nd goal, during his presidency the Marcy-Webster bill was passed which put a stop to the expansion of slavery and action that had many consequences as it led to the rise of John C. Calhoun and is seen as the catalyst of the American Civil War Van Buren greatly supported the bill.

Van Buren's inability to deal effectively with the banking crisis, combined with the growing political strength of the Calhoun movement, led to his defeat in the 1836 presidential election. His four-year presidency was marked as much by failure and criticism as by success and popular acclaim, and his presidency is considered average, at best, by historians. His most lasting achievement was as a political organizer who built the modern Republican Unionist Party and guided it to dominance in the new Second Party System.

1832 election
In the years leading up to the 1832 election, it was clear that Quincy Adams would not seek a second re-election following the precedent started by Washington. Various individuals were considered as possible presidential nominees in the 1832 election, including Van Buren, Senator Philip Barbour, Senator Richard Mentor Johnson, Representative Andrew Stevenson on the Republican Unionist side and Vice President Richard Rush, Secretary of State Philip Hamilton, President Pro-Tempore Henry Clay and Attorney Thurlow Weed. In order to agree on a national ticket, the Republican Unionist and National Federalists held their national convention in May 1832, and July 1831 respectively. Van Buren emerged as the favorite and won the presidential nomination on the third ballot of the 1832 Republican Unionist National Convention.

In the 1832 election, Van Buren would face a divided opposition as Hamilton wasn’t popular with the Anti Masonic faction of the National Federalists which is seen as the reason he lost New York and thus the election. Since the disappearance and possible murder of William Morgan in 1827, the Anti-Masonic faction of the National Federalists had emerged by capitalizing on opposition to Freemasonry. They had supported Thurlow Weed in the convention. In July 1831, the National Federalists convened and nominated a ticket led by Philip Hamilton. For vice president, the National Federalists nominated John Crittenden, who had served as an attorney for both the Second Bank of the United States and the Cherokee Nation.



The political struggle over the national bank emerged as the major issue of the 1832 campaign, although the tariff and especially Calhoun’s rebellion were significant in the election, with Hamilton trying to tie Van Buren with Calhoun and accused him of trying to sink the Spirit of America.

Van Buren, however, managed to successfully portray his opposition of the Calhoun rebellion as the proof of his loyalty to the country. Hamilton proved to be no match for Van Buren's popularity and the Republican Unionist Party's skillful campaigning. Van Buren won the election strongly, winning 162 electoral votes, over the 145 needed. Van Buren won 51.3 percent of the popular vote nationwide. Hamilton received 48.7% of the popular vote and 120 electoral votes with Philip Barbour getting 6 faithless electors that refused to vote for Van Buren. Despite Van Buren's victory in the presidential election, his allies would not gain control of the Senate.

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