VAN BUREN, Martin, President . Autograph letter signed ("M Van Buren") to William L. Marcy London, 14 March 1832. 3½ pages, 4to, 251 x 200mm (9.7/8 x 7.7/8 in.), separated at center fold . VAN BUREN WEIGHS HIS CHANCES TO BECOME VICE PRESIDENT One of the most important Van Buren letters to have appeared for sale, in which he considers the post of Vice President. Van Buren had resigned as Secretary of State so that President Jackson could restructure the cabinet to eliminate supporters of the then Vice President, John Calhoun. Named Minister to Great Britain, Van Buren replies from London to Marcy's suggestion that he seek the vice presidency: "...Of the strong aversion which I have uniformly entertained to this measure you, as well as many others are fully informed." Two years earlier, Van Buren had rejected Jackson's invitation to join the Democratic-Republican ticket: "My private feelings on the subject are unchanged. I cannot regard the possession of that post as in any wise likely to promote my happiness or welfare. But whatever may be my individual repugnance, I cannot but feel the justice of the opinion expressed, as it appears, by a large portion of my Fellow Citizens..." The senate, for political reasons, had rejected Van Buren's ministerial appointment, and he explains the personal and political cost of this rejection: "The President...had nominated me to a foreign and important trust; I had left my native land and entered among strangers upon the conspicuous function of that trust. A majority of the Senate have rejected the nomination of the Executive, and publicly divested me of my employ, when I was exercising it...[T]hey have sought to bring discredit upon the act of the President, and to degrade me personally in the eyes, not merely of my Fellow Citizens, but of foreign nations. If the Republicans...think my elevation to the Vice Presidency the most effectual mode of testifying to the world their sentiments with respect to the act of the President & the vote of the Senate, I can see no justifiable ground for declining to yield to their wishes." Cautiously "Little Van" authorizes Marcy to indicate his acceptance, though he wants to "avoid any act or agency, that might appear calculated or designed to bring about the result...My paramount desire is that my future fate be left to the unbiased decision of the people. Overwhelmed as I am by the generous sympathy manifested by my countrymen...there is a degree of reserve forced upon me however by the nature of the question, by the peculiarly delicate situation in which I have been placed in regard to it, and by the wanton and persevering misrepresentations of the whole subject, with which the public ear has been deceived." In December 1832, Calhoun resigned as Vice-President. Jackson was strongly in favor of Van Buren running on the ticket, and in order to assure him the nomination, imposed the "two-thirds rule" on the nominating convention, since only Van Buren enjoyed such support. Van Buren was nominated and elected with Jackson.
VAN BUREN, Martin, President . Autograph letter signed ("M Van Buren") to William L. Marcy London, 14 March 1832. 3½ pages, 4to, 251 x 200mm (9.7/8 x 7.7/8 in.), separated at center fold . VAN BUREN WEIGHS HIS CHANCES TO BECOME VICE PRESIDENT One of the most important Van Buren letters to have appeared for sale, in which he considers the post of Vice President. Van Buren had resigned as Secretary of State so that President Jackson could restructure the cabinet to eliminate supporters of the then Vice President, John Calhoun. Named Minister to Great Britain, Van Buren replies from London to Marcy's suggestion that he seek the vice presidency: "...Of the strong aversion which I have uniformly entertained to this measure you, as well as many others are fully informed." Two years earlier, Van Buren had rejected Jackson's invitation to join the Democratic-Republican ticket: "My private feelings on the subject are unchanged. I cannot regard the possession of that post as in any wise likely to promote my happiness or welfare. But whatever may be my individual repugnance, I cannot but feel the justice of the opinion expressed, as it appears, by a large portion of my Fellow Citizens..." The senate, for political reasons, had rejected Van Buren's ministerial appointment, and he explains the personal and political cost of this rejection: "The President...had nominated me to a foreign and important trust; I had left my native land and entered among strangers upon the conspicuous function of that trust. A majority of the Senate have rejected the nomination of the Executive, and publicly divested me of my employ, when I was exercising it...[T]hey have sought to bring discredit upon the act of the President, and to degrade me personally in the eyes, not merely of my Fellow Citizens, but of foreign nations. If the Republicans...think my elevation to the Vice Presidency the most effectual mode of testifying to the world their sentiments with respect to the act of the President & the vote of the Senate, I can see no justifiable ground for declining to yield to their wishes." Cautiously "Little Van" authorizes Marcy to indicate his acceptance, though he wants to "avoid any act or agency, that might appear calculated or designed to bring about the result...My paramount desire is that my future fate be left to the unbiased decision of the people. Overwhelmed as I am by the generous sympathy manifested by my countrymen...there is a degree of reserve forced upon me however by the nature of the question, by the peculiarly delicate situation in which I have been placed in regard to it, and by the wanton and persevering misrepresentations of the whole subject, with which the public ear has been deceived." In December 1832, Calhoun resigned as Vice-President. Jackson was strongly in favor of Van Buren running on the ticket, and in order to assure him the nomination, imposed the "two-thirds rule" on the nominating convention, since only Van Buren enjoyed such support. Van Buren was nominated and elected with Jackson.
.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
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