Van Buren’s first political office was that of surrogate. He held this office until he was elected to the state senate in 1812. When Van Buren arrived in Albany two factions of the Democratic-Republican Party were fighting for power. Van Buren became the legislative leader of the “Bucktails”, which was against DeWitt Clinton. With the Bucktails support Van Buren became attorney general in 1816. Once Clinton was elected governor in 1819 he erased all bucktails from office thus forcing Van Buren out of office. This three-year term at attorney general gave Van Buren a taste of what he could achieve in the world of politics.

On May 15, 1837 Van Buren called a special session of Congress. In Van Buren’s message to the special session he stated

His campaign strategy was similar to Jackson’s, and continued Jackson’s policies. In places like Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York, which were Democratic strongholds, support for Van Buren was great. During this time the Whig Party came together, their main purpose was to not let Van Buren in office. They saw Van Buren as another Jackson and they despised his kingly rule. The Whigs were too unorganized to have their own convention so they came up with the idea or running three candidates against Van Buren. The Whigs nominated Daniel Webster of Massachusetts from the East, Hugh White a Tennessee Senator, and Ohio’s William Henry Harrison from the West (1836 Presidential Election Results). Even with three candidates running Van Buren still got the majority of the Electoral College, and became the eighth president of the United States.

Some topics in this essay:
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