Andrew Jackson was a hard act to follow. He was loud, violent, and basically reshaped the entire American presidency through sheer force of will. So, when people ask about the president after Andrew Jackson, they usually expect someone just as explosive. Instead, they got Martin Van Buren.
He was different.
Van Buren didn't have a military record that made people tremble. He was a career politician from New York, nicknamed "The Little Magician" because he was so good at behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Honestly, he was the guy who built the Democratic Party as we know it today. But the moment he sat down in the Oval Office in 1837, everything started falling apart.
It wasn't really his fault, but that’s not how history—or voters—see things.
The Economic Nightmare Van Buren Inherited
Imagine winning the lottery, but then realizing the ticket was actually a debt notice for ten million dollars. That was Van Buren’s 1837. Jackson had spent years fighting the Second Bank of the United States. He eventually killed it. He took the federal money and shoved it into "pet banks" at the state level.
It was a mess.
Suddenly, there was no central control over currency. Banks were printing money like it was scrap paper. Land speculation went through the roof. To stop the bleeding, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, which required people to buy government land with actual gold and silver instead of paper notes.
The bubble popped.
The Panic of 1837 hit just weeks after Van Buren took the oath. It was the worst depression the young country had ever seen. Banks closed their doors. People lost their life savings. Laborers in Eastern cities found themselves unemployed and starving. Since Van Buren was the president after Andrew Jackson, he got stuck with the bill for Jackson's economic party.
The "Martin Van Ruin" Problem
People started calling him "Martin Van Ruin." It’s a bit unfair, really. Van Buren was a firm believer in Jeffersonian principles, which basically meant he thought the government shouldn't interfere with the economy. He didn't think it was his job to bail out failing banks or provide direct relief to the poor.
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"The less government has to do with private interests," he once muttered, "the better for both."
That didn't go over well with a guy who couldn't afford bread.
He eventually pushed for an Independent Treasury. He wanted to keep government funds in its own vaults rather than in private banks. It took years to pass, and by the time it did, the political damage was done. He looked cold. He looked out of touch. While people were suffering, the press focused on his expensive tastes—his gold spoons and his fancy clothes.
Foreign Policy and the Trail of Tears
The president after Andrew Jackson didn't just inherit a bad economy; he inherited Jackson's brutal "Indian Removal" policies. While Jackson is the name most associated with the Trail of Tears, a significant portion of the forced relocations happened during Van Buren’s watch.
In 1838, Van Buren ordered the military to forcibly remove the Cherokee from their lands in Georgia. About 15,000 people were marched west. Thousands died. It is a dark, heavy stain on his legacy that he chose to stay the course Jackson had set, fearing that any reversal would alienate Southern Democrats.
On the northern border, things weren't much better.
There was this weird thing called the Caroline Affair. Canadian rebels were using an American steamboat to ferry supplies across the Niagara River. British forces crossed into American waters, seized the boat, set it on fire, and sent it over the falls. Americans were furious. They wanted war.
Van Buren? He kept his cool.
He sent General Winfield Scott to the border to calm everyone down. He knew the U.S. couldn't afford a war with Britain while the economy was in the toilet. It was a smart, statesmanlike move, but it made him look weak to the "war hawks" in his own country. You can't win when you're the president after Andrew Jackson and you choose diplomacy over a fight.
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The Amistad Case: A Legal Powderkeg
If you've seen the Spielberg movie, you know the gist. In 1839, a group of enslaved Africans took control of a Spanish ship called the Amistad. They ended up in American waters. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Van Buren was in a bind.
Spain wanted the "property" back. Southern plantation owners wanted the Africans returned to slavery to protect the "rights" of slaveholders everywhere. Abolitionists wanted them freed.
Van Buren sided with the Spanish.
He didn't do it because he was particularly evil, but because he was a "northern man with southern principles." He was terrified that the slavery issue would rip the Union—and his party—apart. He tried to fast-track the return of the captives. He lost. The Supreme Court, with the help of former President John Quincy Adams, eventually ruled that the Africans were free individuals.
It was a major blow to Van Buren's authority.
Why He Lost in 1840
By the time the next election rolled around, the Whig Party had learned how to beat the Democrats at their own game. They nominated William Henry Harrison.
They painted Van Buren as a snob. They called him an aristocrat who drank expensive wine while the common man drank hard cider. They used the slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too."
It was the first modern political campaign. It was full of songs, rallies, and total nonsense.
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Van Buren tried to talk about policy. He tried to explain the Independent Treasury. Nobody cared. He was crushed in the Electoral College. He became the first president after Andrew Jackson to be a one-term failure.
The Nuance Most People Miss
Is Van Buren a "bad" president? It's complicated. Historians like Joel Silbey have argued that Van Buren was actually a brilliant political architect. He understood that without organized parties, the country would dissolve into sectionalism.
He wasn't a charismatic leader. He was a manager.
And being a manager during a systemic collapse is a nightmare. He didn't have Jackson's "hero" status to shield him from criticism. He was just a guy in a suit trying to fix a machine that was already broken when he found it.
After he left the White House, he actually became more radical. By 1848, he ran for president again on the "Free Soil" ticket. He came out against the expansion of slavery. It was a massive shift from the guy who tried to deport the Amistad captives. It shows that even career politicians can grow a backbone once they aren't worried about being re-elected.
Key Takeaways for History Buffs
If you want to understand the president after Andrew Jackson, stop looking for another "Old Hickory." Look for the man who tried to keep the peace while the roof was caving in.
- The Panic of 1837 defined his entire term. If the economy had been good, we’d probably remember him as a master strategist.
- The Independent Treasury was his biggest win, even if it took forever. It moved the U.S. toward a more stable financial system.
- The Trail of Tears continued under his command. He didn't have the political courage to stop Jackson's momentum.
- He was a political pioneer. He practically invented the "spoils system" and the way modern political machines operate.
What to Do Next
To really get the full picture of this era, don't just read about the presidents. Look at the people.
1. Read the Amistad Supreme Court ruling. It’s a fascinating look at how international law and human rights collided in the 19th century.
2. Research the Whig Party. If you want to see how the "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" campaign changed American politics forever, start there.
3. Visit Lindenwald. That’s Van Buren’s home in Kinderhook, New York. It’s a National Historic Site and gives you a real sense of the man behind the "Little Magician" persona.
The era of the president after Andrew Jackson wasn't just a boring bridge between Jackson and the Civil War. It was the moment America realized that winning a revolution is easy, but managing a country is incredibly hard.