Martin Van Buren was an American statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841.

Van Buren was born into a family of Dutch Americans in Kinderhook, New York. He was raised speaking primarily Dutch, and learned English at school, making him the first and only President to speak English as a second language.

Van Buren's father was not only a farmer but also a tavern keeper. While going to school as a youth, Van Buren worked in his father's tavern, which was frequented by lawyers and politicians like Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

He ran successfully for Governor of New York in order to support Andrew Jackson's presidential campaign, but resigned shortly after Jackson was inaugurated so he could accept an appointment as Secretary of State. In his cabinet position, Van Buren became a key Jackson advisor, and built the organizational structure for the coalescing Democratic Party.

Van Buren married Hannah Hoes in Catskill, New York, on February 21, 1807. She was his childhood sweetheart, and a daughter of his maternal first cousin, Johannes Dircksen Hoes. Like Van Buren, she was raised speaking primarily Dutch, and spoke English with a marked accent.

Hannah Van Buren contracted tuberculosis, and died in Kinderhook on February 5, 1819, at age 35. Van Buren never remarried.

Through his use of patronage, loyal newspapers, and connections with local party officials and leaders, Van Buren established what became known as the "Albany Regency", a political machine that emerged as an important factor in New York politics. The Regency relied on a coalition of small farmers, but also enjoyed support from the Tammany Hall machine in New York City. Van Buren largely determined Tammany Hall's political policy for the Democratic-Republicans in this era.

In the third consecutive election victory for the Democratic Party, Van Buren defeated four candidates fielded by the nascent Whig Party: William H. Harrison, Hugh L. White, Daniel Webster, and Willie P. Mangum. The election of 1836 was crucial in developing the Second Party System and a stable two-party system more generally. By the end of the election, nearly every independent faction had been absorbed by either the Democrats or the Whigs.

Two months into his presidency, on May 10, 1837, some important state banks in New York, running out of hard currency reserves, refused to convert paper money into gold or silver, and other financial institutions throughout the nation quickly followed suit. This financial crisis, which became known as the Panic of 1837, was followed by a five-year depression in which banks failed and unemployment reached record highs.

His presidency was marred by the costly Second Seminole War--a result of continuing federal policy that sought to move Indian tribes to lands west of the Mississippi River through the Indian Removal Act of 1830. An agreement was reached allowing the Seminoles to remain in southwest Florida, but the peace was shattered in July 1839 and was not restored until 1842, after Van Buren had left office.