Martin Van Buren — 8th President of the United States
8th President of the United States, Democratic
Martin Van Buren
Term: Mar 4, 1837 – Mar 4, 1841
Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841, and was the first president born as a citizen of the United States rather than a British subject. Before the presidency he served as governor of New York, Secretary of State, and vice president under Andrew Jackson, playing a central role in founding the Democratic Party. His term was dominated by the Panic of 1837, a severe economic depression that began shortly after he took office and lasted through most of his presidency.
“Abroad we enjoy the respect and, with scarcely an exception, the friendship of every nation; at home, while our Government quietly but efficiently performs the sole legitimate end of political institutions—in doing the greatest good to the greatest number—we present an aggregate of human prosperity surely not elsewhere to be found.”