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Chapter 18 The Van Buren Administration
Chapter 18 The Van Buren Administration
"I could've done... so... much."- Last words of President Martin Van Buren 1838
"Who the hell is Richard Mentor Johnson?"- President Andrew Jackson 1836
"Your damn obsession with the bank is going to lead this country to ruin."- Henry Clay 1833
To say that Martin Van Buren is one of the unluckiest presidents in American History is quite the understatement. Coming into office in 1837, Van Buren lead the country in the aftermath of a highly popular (yet controversial) two terms under Jackson. Overall the economy was doing great, Texas had won its independence from Mexico, Michigan was about to enter the union; what could possibly go wrong? Apparently for the unfortunate 8th president, everything. Only five weeks into his term, the United States entered into a extreme depression when the New York banks suspended specie payments (refusing redemption of commercial paper) on May 10th, causing a immense panic throughout the country which lead to multiple withdrawals from state banks and foreclosures of many within the west. The so called panic of 1837, was so severe that a depression lasted in the United States for the next 7 years and unemployment was so high that in some areas it was 25%. The causes for the panic are rather numerous but can be traced to land speculation in the west, decreasing cotton prices, a collapsed land bubble, and international specie movements. Though one primary factor that numerous historians agree upon is the closing of the Second National Bank. Andrew Jackson was a rather paranoid man who believed that the bank was a large venue for corruption and monopolization of the economy by the wealthy class. Using his presidential veto, Jackson refused to renew the banks charter past its expiration date. Unfortunately, the Whigs were never able to rally enough support in congress and the bank closed in 1836. Once the national bank closed, spending and loan powers were transferred to state banks, who often gave out loans in large amounts of paper money without backing of gold or silver, which lead to an increased inflation. This along with the land speculation in the west caused the effects of the depression to stay for several years instead of being handled within a few. Even though Van Buren never had any direct role to play in the closing of the national bank, many members of the Whig party blamed incorrectly blamed him as the cause of the Panic and issued propaganda of him acting as Jackson's "pawn" to ruin the economy, giving him the unfortunate nickname of "Martin Van Ruin". Due to large infighting among the Democratic party, as well as staunch opposition by the Whigs, Van Buren was unable to find any sort of comprehensive solution while the nation slid further into economic ruin.
A political ad in 1837 showing a family of Jackson supporters wondering why they can't find work, while portraits of Jackson and Van Buren hang in the background.
Van Buren's poor domestic situation unfortunately (or fortunately if your a patriotic Texan) lead to the cancellation of any plans within the United States to annex the new Republic of Texas. This movement was going to receive many difficulties in the first place, as Van Buren being a northerner, was against any admittance of a slave state into the Union in order to preserve the slave/free state balance. While Van Buren was all for supporting Texas independence, he did not want slavery to grow to the pacific under any circumstances. Additionally, even if Van Buren was a strong supporter of Texan annexation, the motion would have come under heavy opposition from Northern Democrats and the Whig party, both of who saw Texas as a wild and lawless land which would only give power to the south in the long run. The Panic only served to increase Whig power and they were expected to gain a majority in the '38 midterm elections, preventing any treaty for annexation from passing the senate. Finally in scenario where annexation did occur, it would take millions of dollars to incorporate the new territory into the nation due to the need to assume Texas's debt as well as setting up the national infrastructure, with a high depression going on it would be impossible for the United States to assume this extra economic burden. So, to the upset of Houston, Texas would remain independent for the indefinate future.
If fate had smiled kindly on Martin Van Buren, then he would've served the rest of his term fixing the economy and quietly retire in 1841 or 1845. What Van Buren would've done is something that many people can only speculate as his life would end in 1838 due to the actions of one man, Edward Booth. Booth was a cotton plantation owner from South Carolina who was a firm supporter of Calhoun's nullification faction. He was already ill content at Jackson for what he perceived as the upmost violation of state's rights for the nullification crisis in 1832. He would soon develop a hatred for Van Buren after losing much of his fortune from the Panic due to the collapse of the cotton market as well as money lost in speculation schemes in Missouri. Forced to sell his slaves and plantation, Booth was a ruined man. For him there was only one man to blame for his troubles, thus Booth traveled to Washington D.C with a pistol in his luggage with a plan for blood. On April 15th, 1838, Martin Van Buren was enjoying a play in an outdoor theater on the outskirts of D.C. Bribing the stage crew with the last of his money, Booth snuck up on stage on shot the president in his reserved theater box, shouting "DEATH TO THE TYRANT!". The crowd as well as the actors rushed onto booth while the presidents aides struggled to get Van Buren to a hospital, by the time they got there it was too late. Martin Van Buren was no longer of this world.
President Martin Van Buren (1782-1838)
April 15th, 1838. 8:30 P.M, The White House
Vice-President Richard Mentor Johnson was currently enjoying a meal within his office of the West Wing. In the past year Johnson had found much boredom and depression within the capitol. When he was offered the chance to be on the Democratic ticket with Van Buren, Johnson jumped at the opportunity to become center stage in national politics and quickly agreed. Unfortunately as he would find out in his first year, the office of Vice-President was merely a bureaucratic dead weight with very little power and him mostly standing in for ceremony. No one took Johnson seriously and Van Buren gave him little to do within the government. Thankfully though, with the ongoing depression, no one pointed fingers at the Vice-President for any of the country's problems. It was, as he later recalled it, worth a bucket of warm piss. Johnson missed his glory days during the War of 1812 where he personally killed Tecumseh, and often wished he stayed as a congressman instead of accepting Van Buren's offer. He quietly looked forward to when the damn elections came so that he could retire in Kentucky so that he could run the family tavern. As Johnson was musing over his future, Speaker James Polk burst into his office in a disorganized and sweaty appearance as if he had practically ran from his Georgia home just to get here.
"James, what's gotten into you?"
"The... President.. Martin, he's dead. Got shot by some fucking lunatic from Carolina just a hour ago."
Johnson could not believe it. The man who he had been serving with for the past year, and had just had a conversation with a few hours ago was gone. The president, leader of the free world, was no more. "What, what the hell does this mean? Who's going to become the President?"
"We gotta act fast Dick, if we sit on the sidelines with our hands in our pockets while this shitstorm goes down, the the Whigs will get the White House from us. This means Dick, that YOU must assume the Presidency."
9th President of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson.
"I could've done... so... much."- Last words of President Martin Van Buren 1838
"Who the hell is Richard Mentor Johnson?"- President Andrew Jackson 1836
"Your damn obsession with the bank is going to lead this country to ruin."- Henry Clay 1833
To say that Martin Van Buren is one of the unluckiest presidents in American History is quite the understatement. Coming into office in 1837, Van Buren lead the country in the aftermath of a highly popular (yet controversial) two terms under Jackson. Overall the economy was doing great, Texas had won its independence from Mexico, Michigan was about to enter the union; what could possibly go wrong? Apparently for the unfortunate 8th president, everything. Only five weeks into his term, the United States entered into a extreme depression when the New York banks suspended specie payments (refusing redemption of commercial paper) on May 10th, causing a immense panic throughout the country which lead to multiple withdrawals from state banks and foreclosures of many within the west. The so called panic of 1837, was so severe that a depression lasted in the United States for the next 7 years and unemployment was so high that in some areas it was 25%. The causes for the panic are rather numerous but can be traced to land speculation in the west, decreasing cotton prices, a collapsed land bubble, and international specie movements. Though one primary factor that numerous historians agree upon is the closing of the Second National Bank. Andrew Jackson was a rather paranoid man who believed that the bank was a large venue for corruption and monopolization of the economy by the wealthy class. Using his presidential veto, Jackson refused to renew the banks charter past its expiration date. Unfortunately, the Whigs were never able to rally enough support in congress and the bank closed in 1836. Once the national bank closed, spending and loan powers were transferred to state banks, who often gave out loans in large amounts of paper money without backing of gold or silver, which lead to an increased inflation. This along with the land speculation in the west caused the effects of the depression to stay for several years instead of being handled within a few. Even though Van Buren never had any direct role to play in the closing of the national bank, many members of the Whig party blamed incorrectly blamed him as the cause of the Panic and issued propaganda of him acting as Jackson's "pawn" to ruin the economy, giving him the unfortunate nickname of "Martin Van Ruin". Due to large infighting among the Democratic party, as well as staunch opposition by the Whigs, Van Buren was unable to find any sort of comprehensive solution while the nation slid further into economic ruin.
A political ad in 1837 showing a family of Jackson supporters wondering why they can't find work, while portraits of Jackson and Van Buren hang in the background.
Van Buren's poor domestic situation unfortunately (or fortunately if your a patriotic Texan) lead to the cancellation of any plans within the United States to annex the new Republic of Texas. This movement was going to receive many difficulties in the first place, as Van Buren being a northerner, was against any admittance of a slave state into the Union in order to preserve the slave/free state balance. While Van Buren was all for supporting Texas independence, he did not want slavery to grow to the pacific under any circumstances. Additionally, even if Van Buren was a strong supporter of Texan annexation, the motion would have come under heavy opposition from Northern Democrats and the Whig party, both of who saw Texas as a wild and lawless land which would only give power to the south in the long run. The Panic only served to increase Whig power and they were expected to gain a majority in the '38 midterm elections, preventing any treaty for annexation from passing the senate. Finally in scenario where annexation did occur, it would take millions of dollars to incorporate the new territory into the nation due to the need to assume Texas's debt as well as setting up the national infrastructure, with a high depression going on it would be impossible for the United States to assume this extra economic burden. So, to the upset of Houston, Texas would remain independent for the indefinate future.
If fate had smiled kindly on Martin Van Buren, then he would've served the rest of his term fixing the economy and quietly retire in 1841 or 1845. What Van Buren would've done is something that many people can only speculate as his life would end in 1838 due to the actions of one man, Edward Booth. Booth was a cotton plantation owner from South Carolina who was a firm supporter of Calhoun's nullification faction. He was already ill content at Jackson for what he perceived as the upmost violation of state's rights for the nullification crisis in 1832. He would soon develop a hatred for Van Buren after losing much of his fortune from the Panic due to the collapse of the cotton market as well as money lost in speculation schemes in Missouri. Forced to sell his slaves and plantation, Booth was a ruined man. For him there was only one man to blame for his troubles, thus Booth traveled to Washington D.C with a pistol in his luggage with a plan for blood. On April 15th, 1838, Martin Van Buren was enjoying a play in an outdoor theater on the outskirts of D.C. Bribing the stage crew with the last of his money, Booth snuck up on stage on shot the president in his reserved theater box, shouting "DEATH TO THE TYRANT!". The crowd as well as the actors rushed onto booth while the presidents aides struggled to get Van Buren to a hospital, by the time they got there it was too late. Martin Van Buren was no longer of this world.
President Martin Van Buren (1782-1838)
April 15th, 1838. 8:30 P.M, The White House
Vice-President Richard Mentor Johnson was currently enjoying a meal within his office of the West Wing. In the past year Johnson had found much boredom and depression within the capitol. When he was offered the chance to be on the Democratic ticket with Van Buren, Johnson jumped at the opportunity to become center stage in national politics and quickly agreed. Unfortunately as he would find out in his first year, the office of Vice-President was merely a bureaucratic dead weight with very little power and him mostly standing in for ceremony. No one took Johnson seriously and Van Buren gave him little to do within the government. Thankfully though, with the ongoing depression, no one pointed fingers at the Vice-President for any of the country's problems. It was, as he later recalled it, worth a bucket of warm piss. Johnson missed his glory days during the War of 1812 where he personally killed Tecumseh, and often wished he stayed as a congressman instead of accepting Van Buren's offer. He quietly looked forward to when the damn elections came so that he could retire in Kentucky so that he could run the family tavern. As Johnson was musing over his future, Speaker James Polk burst into his office in a disorganized and sweaty appearance as if he had practically ran from his Georgia home just to get here.
"James, what's gotten into you?"
"The... President.. Martin, he's dead. Got shot by some fucking lunatic from Carolina just a hour ago."
Johnson could not believe it. The man who he had been serving with for the past year, and had just had a conversation with a few hours ago was gone. The president, leader of the free world, was no more. "What, what the hell does this mean? Who's going to become the President?"
"We gotta act fast Dick, if we sit on the sidelines with our hands in our pockets while this shitstorm goes down, the the Whigs will get the White House from us. This means Dick, that YOU must assume the Presidency."
9th President of the United States, Richard Mentor Johnson.
- Kaiser Chris
- Word Count: 1.4k