Publisher's Note A portrait of the mid-nineteenth-century president considers his roles as the first president born after American independence, the first ethnic president, and the first New Yorker to hold the office, describing his failed efforts to control such issues as slavery and the great banking panic of 1837.
Industry Reviews "Fortunately, this Rodney Dangerfield of presidents has landed a splendid biographer....Within the ascetic span of a short-biography series, Widmer keenly evokes the environment that enabled Van Buren to thrive." New York Times Book Review - Michael Kazin (02/27/2005)