Martin Van Buren

III

Early Political Career

On his return to Kinderhook, Van Buren joined the Democratic-Republican Party. Because he became one of the best lawyers in Columbia County and because the county was dominated by the Federalist Party, he was constantly asked to appear in court against Federalist lawyers. Van Buren's repeated successes in these encounters catapulted him into a leading position in the Democratic-Republican Party in Columbia County. As a result, he was appointed to a local office, then to a county position, and finally, in 1812, he was elected to the state senate.

A

State Senator

Van Buren began his legislative career the same year the United States declared war against Great Britain. He actively supported the war measures proposed by the governor. However, many of these measures died in the legislature because of Federalist opposition to them and to the war in general. As a result, the state stumbled through the war doing less than it could to assist the national government in its prosecution of the war.

In 1816 Van Buren was reelected to the state senate and was also appointed state attorney general. Later he was designated judge advocate. As such he prosecuted Brigadier General William Hull for treason because Hull had surrendered Detroit to the British in 1812. Van Buren won a conviction of Hull for cowardice and neglect of duty, and the general was sentenced to be shot. However, President James Madison rescinded the sentence of execution.

B

The Bucktails

When Van Buren began his political career, the Democratic-Republican Party in New York was divided into three factions: followers of the Livingston family, followers of the Clinton family, and followers of Aaron Burr, vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Van Buren soon identified himself with the Clintonians and rose rapidly to a position of leadership in their ranks. One reason for his success was his skill in manipulating and controlling caucus meetings, where party policy was decided.

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Because of his rapid rise, Van Buren was forced into a personal rivalry with De Witt Clinton, then governor of New York. For the next 15 years the two men battled for control of the state Democratic-Republican Party, with Van Buren assuming leadership of his own faction. Van Buren's followers were known as Bucktails because the leaders of the Tammany Society, a New York City political organization that supported Van Buren, wore bucktails on their hats when they attended political meetings.

In this long struggle with Clinton, Van Buren resorted to a number of devious schemes to strengthen his position and weaken the opposition. His methods and his uninterrupted string of extraordinary successes earned him much criticism. Van Buren trained himself to disregard all attacks, no matter how personal or severe. This attitude, in turn, brought on the criticism that he was too cautious and too much under the control of a calculating mind ever to be hindered from the attainment of his political ambitions.

The Clintonians cited as one example of Van Buren's unscrupulous methods his support of a convention in 1821 to revise the state's constitution. Van Buren and his Bucktails said they wanted to make the constitution more democratic. The Clintonians retorted that the real aim was to oust them from office. Both sides were right. The revised constitution introduced a needed extension of voting rights and improved the operation of the state government. However, it also removed many Clintonians from the government by abolishing the offices they held.

Van Buren played an important role in the convention. Invariably he took the middle ground and adopted resolutions that would win the support of the largest number of delegates. His enemies accused him of having no position at all, but this was untrue. Although he was cautious, he believed in popular rule. However, his brand of democracy included safeguards to ensure that the people acted “not by the feelings of temporary excitement, but by that sober second thought which is never wrong.”

C

United States Senator

C

1

Albany Regency

In 1821 Van Buren was elected to the U.S. Senate, the upper chamber of the Congress of the United States. Before departing for Washington, D.C., he established a political machine, called the Albany Regency, to run the state in his absence.

A political machine is a tightly disciplined organization set up to ensure that a party or faction maintains control of political offices. Van Buren could set up the Regency because the revised constitution had placed a great deal of patronage, or the power to appoint people to political positions, in the hands of the Bucktails.

The Albany Regency was the first statewide political machine in New York history. Among its members were some of the best political talents in the state. Into the hands of these men Van Buren placed what had taken him almost ten years to acquire: control of the state legislature and control of patronage. With these instruments the Regency directed the political affairs of the party and of the state. Although Van Buren was away from New York for much of the remainder of his political career, he continued to be recognized as chief of the Regency.

C

2

Election of 1824

In Washington, Van Buren's political talents were quickly discovered, and he soon occupied an important position within the national party. At that time the dominance of the Democratic-Republicans was so complete that James Monroe had been unopposed in the presidential election of 1820. However, the party was already splitting into factions. Van Buren was a leader of the faction that supported states' rights and was opposed to a strong central government.

In 1824 Van Buren summoned the last congressional caucus to nominate a presidential candidate. Then he managed the campaign of Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford, the caucus nominee. However, several other Republican candidates chose to run in this election, including General Andrew Jackson, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and Congressman Henry Clay. Because none of the candidates won a majority of electoral votes, the election went to the House of Representatives (the lower chamber of Congress) for decision.

It is perhaps a fair example of Van Buren's political skill that he got 41 electoral votes for Crawford, enough to place him third in the race, despite the fact that Crawford had suffered a severe paralytic stroke many months before the election and should have been eliminated from the contest. Clay, who had been eliminated from the contest because he ran fourth, threw his support to Adams, and the House elected Adams president.

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