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The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
814 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 1973
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November 29, 2020
This book took me an insane amount of time to read. From a very basic perspective that no currently available copy is truly legible, to the fact that it's written in some of the most esoteric, 19th-century brouhaha language out there (complete with enormous paragraph-sentences that make even the one you're reading cry in embarrassing smallness), this book was hard. That in and of itself makes this a less-than-enjoyable read, but it was important to me anyway and I loved it after finishing it.
Beyond that, it's woefully incomplete. Besides ignoring some important aspects (I personally thought it glanced far too quickly over Van Buren's role in the Tariff of Abominations), it ended before even Van Buren's presidential nomination. The book mentions the nomination and administration many times, but even in its own largesse, the volume(s) end suddenly because Van Buren died before completing it. It would have been very interesting to read what he intended (explaining his post-presidential actions of never giving up and trying to pull a Grover Cleveland). As it was, you get one of the most one-sided, biased, incredible self-masturbatory pieces of all time.
Van Buren was a politician's politician. If you've seen West Wing, think of him as the OG Josh Lyman AND Toby Ziegler wrapped together in one supergenius slimeball. The book is intended to entirely vindicate Van Buren and his actions, and it's meant to paint himself in the greatest light possible. I think one of my favorites was early in the book, when he was New York attorney General (1815-1819), he sent people he didn't like on fool's errands to keep them out of the way. He schemed his way onto the canal board, screwed over DeWitt Clinton in lovely ways, and "just happened to find himself" nominated and elected to ever higher position. What a coincidence.
He also seems like one of those people who save every scrap of paper ever written on or sent to him in order to screw people over later. He would stuff copies of letters from enemies in envelopes, then send them to third parties who could screw over lives if they wanted. In the autobiography, he would claim he was doing the right thing or that he was forwarding information in the simplest way. It was blatantly obvious it was just him stirring things up.
It was absolutely incredible how the man found papers and letters to twist everything around to vindicate himself and villainize others (especially Daniel Webster, who he seems to have had it out for). He claimed credit where he was due none or little. He was just this absolute Little Magician.
Beyond that, it's woefully incomplete. Besides ignoring some important aspects (I personally thought it glanced far too quickly over Van Buren's role in the Tariff of Abominations), it ended before even Van Buren's presidential nomination. The book mentions the nomination and administration many times, but even in its own largesse, the volume(s) end suddenly because Van Buren died before completing it. It would have been very interesting to read what he intended (explaining his post-presidential actions of never giving up and trying to pull a Grover Cleveland). As it was, you get one of the most one-sided, biased, incredible self-masturbatory pieces of all time.
Van Buren was a politician's politician. If you've seen West Wing, think of him as the OG Josh Lyman AND Toby Ziegler wrapped together in one supergenius slimeball. The book is intended to entirely vindicate Van Buren and his actions, and it's meant to paint himself in the greatest light possible. I think one of my favorites was early in the book, when he was New York attorney General (1815-1819), he sent people he didn't like on fool's errands to keep them out of the way. He schemed his way onto the canal board, screwed over DeWitt Clinton in lovely ways, and "just happened to find himself" nominated and elected to ever higher position. What a coincidence.
He also seems like one of those people who save every scrap of paper ever written on or sent to him in order to screw people over later. He would stuff copies of letters from enemies in envelopes, then send them to third parties who could screw over lives if they wanted. In the autobiography, he would claim he was doing the right thing or that he was forwarding information in the simplest way. It was blatantly obvious it was just him stirring things up.
It was absolutely incredible how the man found papers and letters to twist everything around to vindicate himself and villainize others (especially Daniel Webster, who he seems to have had it out for). He claimed credit where he was due none or little. He was just this absolute Little Magician.
Displaying 1 of 1 review