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Martin Van Buren Presidential $1 Coin — Eighth President, 1837-1841
• Born: 5 December 1782
• Birthplace: Kinderhook, New York
• Died: 24 July 1862
• Best Known As: President of the United States, 1837-1841
Martin Van Buren was a U.S. Senator and governor of New York, and one of the founders of the Democratic Party. Under Andrew Jackson, Van Buren served as Secretary of State, Minister to England and Vice President. Shortly after Van Buren took office a financial panic in 1837 forced several bank closures. Van Buren ran for re-election in 1840, but was defeated by the Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison.
The eighth president of the U.S., Van Buren was nicknamed "The Little Magician" for his political skills (and small frame)... He was a widower with four sons when he moved into the White House (his wife, Hannah, died in 1819).
He was also called "Old Kinderhook" after his hometown, and that nickname is supposed to have given rise to the term "OK"... Washington Irving wrote most of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" while staying at Van Buren's home Lindenwald in Kinderhook.
Martin Van Buren, the first president from New York and not of British descent, was also the first president to be born an American citizen. Raised in a Dutch neighborhood in Kinderhook, New York, his interest in politics took root at his father’s tavern where prominent politicians, including Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, would stop by on their travels.
He served in the United States Senate and was governor of New York before becoming Andrew Jackson’s secretary of state. He served as vice president during Jackson’s second term and handily won the 1837 presidential election.
As president, Van Buren initiated an independent federal treasury system to take the place of state banks’ handling of federal monies and peacefully settled disputes with Great Britain that were threatening to take the country to war. However, a deep economic depression persisted throughout his term in office and he lost his bid for re-election in 1841.