November 1, 2024
Bradley's (history, Univ. at Albany; coeditor, The Papers of Martin Van Buren, 1782-1862) book about Van Buren's presidency (1837-41) shows that it started badly and steadily worsened as the issues piled up. Two months into his term, a bank panic erupted. Predecessor Andrew Jackson's recognition of the Republic of Texas just before leaving office left Van Buren embroiled in a dispute over the future of enslavement in new territories; he was left to carry through Jackson's policy of forced migration of Indigenous peoples, and he had to address border violence with Canada as well. Many viewed Van Buren as a temporizer, and he ended up serving only one term as president. He lost his reelection bid to William Henry Harrison. Bradley credits Van Buren for what he accomplished without soft-pedaling his failings. Van Buren created the modern political system of parties, nominating conventions, platforms, and even the practice of using "dirty tricks" to ensure election. VERDICT Strongly recommended for readers who love history. Bradley is scrupulously fair in his judgment of Van Buren.--David Keymer
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November 15, 2024
The life of one of America's first professional politicians and its eighth president. Bradley, co-editor of the Martin Van Buren papers based at Cumberland University and adjunct history instructor at State University of New York at Albany, has written the first comprehensive biography of Van Buren in decades. He brings to life a man who today may only be known as the inspiration for theSeinfeld storyline with the fictionalized street gang the "Van Buren Boys" but who did more than perhaps anyone to professionalize politics and establish the two-party system in the United States. Bradley reveals how the aloof public speaker who could barely be heard in a chamber came to dominate New York state politics and became a main architect of the Democratic Party, along the way being elected to the U.S. Senate, the vice presidency, and the presidency amid the hurricane of antebellum politics. Bradley's vivid descriptions of Van Buren's political contemporaries such as John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, and James Polk add to the book's appeal. Bradley does well to avoid attaching recency bias to Van Buren's political machinations and associations that contributed to the lead-up to the Civil War. He also resists the temptation to deify a subject with whom he is very familiar; his literary critiques of the leaden prose of Van Buren's autobiography and the significance of Van Buren's book about the history of U.S. political parties reflect the balanced approach of Bradley's auspicious debut, an enjoyable, scholarly, and valuable biography of an overlooked politician. A gem for students of U.S. history and politics.
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