1840/2009 A President Unknown and proof nothing really changes.

Martin Van Buren, our eighth American president, not only should be a household name, but an American hero as well. This little known man, not two months in to his presidency, inherited and was solely blamed for a depression equal to "The Great Depression". Credited for this economic downturn while ignoring the fact he managed it without serious wage and price fluctuations, enlarging government or going to war! In fact, Van Buren diplomatically avoided three possible conflicts.

en.wikipedia.org...

When immediately faced with the "Panic of 1837", his proposal for an independent treasury system was met with much resistance. Congress finally passed it in 1840 after three years of serious depression. Had it happened sooner it may have been more effective?

Economic Panic of 1837

The severe downturn in the American economy that began in 1836 became Van Buren's primary concern during his presidency. Historians have identified three causes of the depression that wracked the American economy during the late 1830s. First, English banks -- responding to financial troubles at home -- stopped pumping money into the American economy, an important reversal since those funds had financed much of the nation's economic growth over the preceding two decades. Second, U.S. banks, which had overextended credit to their clients, began to call in loans after British banks cut their money supply. Third, President Andrew Jackson's "hard" money policies, especially the 1836 Specie Circular that aimed to stabilize what Jacksonians saw as an out-of-control economy by requiring that all purchases of federal land be made with precious metal (i.e. "hard" money) rather than paper ("soft") money, only exacerbated the credit crunch.

When Van Buren entered office, it was clear that the nation's economic health had taken a turn for the worse and that the prosperity of the early 1830s was over. Two months into his presidency, the roof fell in... Loans dried up, and so did new purchases; businesses and civic projects collapsed. Many Americans went unemployed and others began to go hungry. Creditors refused to accept paper currency that seemed to be losing its value by the hour. The American economy's downward spiral accelerated.

Van Buren blamed the current problems not on the Jackson administration's policies, but instead on what he viewed as greedy American and foreign business and financial institutions, as well as on the overextension of credit by U.S. banks. His political opponents, especially the Whigs, took little comfort in this analysis and were quick to blame the Democrats', and especially Jackson's, financial and monetary policies.

Immigration and Politics

The slumping economy did not discourage immigrants from coming to America. By the end of the Van Buren administration, 80,000 immigrants a year were entering the United States, the beginnings of a rush of newcomers that brought over four million people to U.S. shores between 1840 and 1860... Many of these immigrants were Irish Catholics (about 44 percent) and Germans (30 percent). They settled largely in the northeast and the midwest, often in major cities like New York or Boston, where the majority worked in low-paying, manual-labor jobs. A good number of the recent immigrants moved into skilled or semi-skilled jobs.

millercenter.org...

Notice the similarities to current conditions. Greedy foreign banks, over extended credit, devalued paper currency and immigration. Utterly astounding the way history repeats itself. Van Buren even faced a bailout scenario, but unlike today, he fought it back. Most of his ideology was equal to political suicide, yet he fought the good fight and stayed the righteous course. If only we had this type of leadership today?

Why isn't this American widely known? Could it be that nothing has changed in this country since 1840?

JZ


[edit on 08/16/2008 by Zerbst]

S&F my good man. It is amazing how cyclic history is. Good job finding this great example. Sadly most school history courses don't focus on the meat of things and bypass some of the truly great individuals that are in our past.

reply to post by darkjedi523


thanks,Dark. the fact seems to be that those who courageously pursued great things for america, either become ridiculed or irrelevant. i'm just learning about Van Buren and things he stood for. people need to realize the fact that men like this are not considered in our written history.

this is very disturbing evidence that we only learn what they want us to. people should be outraged at this! these true americans being ignored are telling as to what else they are likely doing? those responsible bring great shame on our nation, but when we are not willing to demand the changes, it's even worse.

will america be something to be proud of again? with all that has passed, i'm losing confidence. greed and corruption have infected things everywhere you look. why does it seem like no one cares?

When I first heard of this story, the first thing I did, was examine the 8th president Martin Van Buren, why was HE the only one who was a president without the bloodline.. I found out some interesting things, figured to share them with you!

As mentioned in the thread, he was the first president of the United States to be born in America.
His administration was largely characterized by the economic hardship of his time, the Panic of 1837. He was scapegoated for the depression and called "Martin Van Ruin" by his political opponents. Van Buren was voted out of office after four years, losing to Whig candidate William Henry Harrison.
(scape goat) like most presidents as we think...

Van Buren had been active in politics from at least the age of 17 when he attended a party convention in Troy, New York where he worked to secure the Congressional nomination for John Van Ness. (a little about Ness, he was the president of the National Metropolitan Bank from 1814 until his death 1846.) Van Buren also supported Aaron Burr (where there is conspicarys aabout him, also he shot and kill Alexander Hamilton)

"Without strong national political organizations, there would be nothing to moderate the prejudices between free and slaveholding states." ("Martin Van Buren" 103–114) (even though he was in the 3rd party the free soil, which was opposed slavery, so this quote is odd to me)

On March 5, 1829, President Jackson appointed Van Buren Secretary of State, an office which probably had been assured to him before the election, and he resigned the governorship.

(IMPORTANT) there was another 3rd party called the anti-freemason party, before it was taken over by the Whigs party.. they were opposed Van Buren.. cause hew as a mason. en.wikipedia.org... One brief Albany Journal paragraph on Martin Van Buren included the words "dangerous," "demagogue," "corrupt," "degrade," "pervert," "prostitute," "debauch" and "cursed."[citation needed] (maybe why they had Hamilton killed, becaues he was exposing the illumanti?!?!

In 1839, Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement visited Van Buren to plead for the U.S. to help roughly 20,000 Mormon settlers of Independence, Missouri, who were forced from the state during the 1838 Mormon War there. The Governor of Missouri, Lilburn Boggs, had issued an executive order on October 27, 1838, known as the "Extermination Order". It authorized troops to use force against Mormons to "exterminate or drive [them] from the state."[12][13]

I had a bunch written out.. now I can't find it.. but idk maybe other people know more about this.. I swore when I looked up his elections he didn't have the wining vote, but guess I was wrong.. hmm idk