ShortDrawer

Van Buren, Martin

Unanimously renominated by the Democrats in 1840, Van Buren was overwhelmingly defeated by the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison. Four years later the Democrats were bitterly divided over the question of the annexation of Texas, and Van Buren, who opposed annexation, was passed over in favour of James K. Polk, who won the election on a platform calling for the annexation of both Texas and Oregon. In 1848 Van Buren ran as a candidate of the Free Soil Party, which included members of the antislavery factions of the Democratic Party (the “Barnburners”) and the Whig Party, but he received only 10 percent of the vote. He spent several years in Europe and then retired to his estate, Lindenwald, in Kinderhook.

posted by ShortDrawer @ 1:36 PM