Born on December 5, 1782, Martin Van Buren was the first American President who had been born a citizen of the United States. That said, his first language was NOT English! He would go on to start a major political party and was long noted for his spectacular ability to conduct politics, leading to one of his nicknames, “The Little Magician.”
Long distrustful of the banks, he found a home in the Jackson Administration and was nominated as Vice President for Jackson’s second term. He would then be handpicked by Jackson to be his replacement. The problem is that much of being President depends on… well… luck and timing. And the one thing that Van Buren did not have was timing. easily elected to succeed Jackson, he was hit with the brunt of the fallout from the Jacksonian policies and his own Administrations issues.
In the only occurrence in US History, Van Buren was re-nominated by his party, but without a pick for Vice President. He would not be re-elected, As the national debates unfolded, he waited quietly and hoped for a draft movement to return him to the White House. On the major issues of the day, he stayed mostly silent, except on the single issue of the annexation of Texas. Like many democrat politicians, it was his position on the extension of slavery (via Texas) that would ultimately end his political career.
The lesson is that doing the right thing is always the right thing, even when it costs a man his dream of the Presidency…

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