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Presidential Places: Martin Van Buren National Historic Site

Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States, died on July 24, 1862 (151 years ago today). He was 79 years of age and died in the same place he was born, Kinderhook, New York. Van Buren had been a key organizer of the Democratic Party and his skills as a political brain helped elect Andrew Jackson to the Presidency in 1828. Jackson rewarded Van Buren by making him Secretary of State. In Jackson's second term, Jackson picked Van Buren as his running mate and Jackson picked Van Buren as his successor. Jackson was the first president to have been born a United States citizen, since all of his predecessors were born British subjects before the American Revolution. He is the only president not to have spoken English as his first language (his first language was Dutch) and he was the first president from New York. As President, Van Buren was against the annexation of Texas. His administration is largely remembered for the Panic of 1837, a severe economic depression. He was scapegoated for it and given the perjorative "Martin Van Ruin" by his political opponents. Van Buren was voted out of office after four years, losing to Whig candidate William Henry Harrison.



Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is administered by the United States National Park Service and is located 20 miles south of Albany, New York, and two miles south of the village of Kinderhook, New York in Columbia County. The National Historic Site preserves the Van Buren estate and thirty-six room mansion. Van Buren purchased the estate, which he named Lindenwald, in 1839 during his one term as President and it became his home and farm during his retirement.

Van Buren ran two United States Presidential campaigns from Lindenwald. In 1844, he based his unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination at the estate. (That year, Van Buren lost a hotly contested fight to President James K. Polk.) In 1848, in opposition to the extension of slavery into territories captured from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War, Van Buren ran for President on a third-party ticket (The Free Soil Party), again directing his campaign from Lindenwald. Van Buren's campaign drew enough votes away from the Democratic nominee, Lewis Cass, to allow Whig candidate Zachary Taylor to prevail.

Van Buren named his estate Lindenwald, which is German for "linden wood", after the Linden trees lining the Albany-to-New York Post Road, which still runs past the front of the home. Van Buren passed away at Lindenwald.



Following is more information about the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site:

Website: http://www.nps.gov/mava/index.htm

Location: 1013 Old Post Rd, Kinderhook, NY

Hours of Operation: seven days-a-week from mid-May to October 31. The Visitor Center is open daily from from 9:00am to 4:30pm.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Martin-Van-Buren-National-Historic-Site/143529559014119

Twitter: @OKKinderhookRG