The Presidents at Christmas: Martin Van Buren
Not much is written about how America’s first president with Dutch ancestry, Martin Van Buren and his family celebrated the Christmas holiday season during his term in office. A severe "panic" or economic depression hit the nation on Van Buren's watch, and there was little to celebrate during those trying times. According to one historian, Van Buren’s most enduring Christmastime contribution was selecting the color of decor for the White House State Room (which became known as the Blue Room, and remained the same hue ever since). The Blue Room is where the official Christmas tree has come to be placed and where holiday celebrations are held each year.
Throughout his life and presidency, a number of memorable events took place during the Christmas season. For example Van Buren became governor of New York one week after Christmas of 1828.
According to author Jon Meacham in his book American Lion, on Christmas Day of 1835, Jackson celebrated the holiday with his Vice-President, Van Buren. Van Buren and all of Jackson’s grandchildren played tag in the White House’s East Room. When Van Buren lost a game of tag, he was required to shout, “Here I stand all ragged and dirty, if you don’t kiss me I’ll run like a turkey.” When no one kissed him, he had to do a turkey dance across the room. Later, when presents were opened, Van Buren got a hand-painted mirror. One observer joked that this was the perfect give for the Vice-President, who, the observer quipped, was “on very good terms with his looking-glass.”
In his First Presidential Address to Congress, in December of 1837, Van Buren called for the establishment of an independent treasury to combat the banking crisis.
It was four days after Christmas of 1837 that the “Caroline Affair” took place. This incident involved Canadian troops seizing a U.S. steamboat which had been leased to Canadian insurrectionists. One American was killed. A week later, Van Buren issued a proclamation warning U.S. citizens not to assist in the Canadian revolt. He dispatched Federal troops to the Canada/Maine border.
Canada was still a British Colony in 1837 and for the next few holiday seasons, no White House Christmas cards were sent to Queen Victoria of England. On the day after his final Christmas in the White House in 1840, tensions with Great Britain eased when Alexander McLeod was found not guilty of murder. McLeod, a Canadian, has been arrested in New York for his involvement in the Caroline Affair.
Van Buren was featured in an 1848 political cartoon entitled "shooting the Christmas Turkey". At the time he was he Presidential Candidate for the Free Soil Party. In the cartoon, Democratic and Whig candidates debate strategies to win the presidency, or "shoot the Christmas turkey," as the Free Soil candidate Van Buren makes off with the bird. At left Democrat Lewis Cass (facing front) and Whig Zachary Taylor (facing left), both in military uniform and holding rifles, quarrel about the turkey which is chained to a stake in the center. Taylor: "I tell you, Cass, that I prefer coming to close quarters. It will be as fair for you as for me." Cass: "But I prefer long shots. It will give more chance for the exercise of skill & ingenuity." Taylor running mate Millard Fillmore enters from the left and sighting Van Buren exclaims, "Blood and thunder! I thought that infernal fox was dead: but he has come out of his hole and carried off the prize, while we have been disputing about the preliminaries!" On the far right, Van Buren, as a fox, grasps the turkey by the neck as David Wilmot cheers, "Huzza! Huzza! Victory! Victory!" Wilmot holds up the famous and controversial Wilmot Proviso of 1846, which forbade slavery in territories acquired by the United States in the Mexican War. The measure, embraced by Van Buren but sidestepped by Cass and Taylor, was a burning issue in the 1848 campaign. On the ground in the center of the scene sits New York editor Horace Greeley with a tally sheet marked "Taylor" and "Cass" nearby. Greeley thumbs his nose at Taylor and Cass and says, "Well, Gentlemen, my place has become a sinecure. I need not keep tally for you now." An ardent and powerful Whig spokesman in the 1844 election, Greeley, editor of the influential New York Tribune, had withheld his support for Taylor until late in the 1848 campaign.
Throughout his life and presidency, a number of memorable events took place during the Christmas season. For example Van Buren became governor of New York one week after Christmas of 1828.
According to author Jon Meacham in his book American Lion, on Christmas Day of 1835, Jackson celebrated the holiday with his Vice-President, Van Buren. Van Buren and all of Jackson’s grandchildren played tag in the White House’s East Room. When Van Buren lost a game of tag, he was required to shout, “Here I stand all ragged and dirty, if you don’t kiss me I’ll run like a turkey.” When no one kissed him, he had to do a turkey dance across the room. Later, when presents were opened, Van Buren got a hand-painted mirror. One observer joked that this was the perfect give for the Vice-President, who, the observer quipped, was “on very good terms with his looking-glass.”
In his First Presidential Address to Congress, in December of 1837, Van Buren called for the establishment of an independent treasury to combat the banking crisis.
It was four days after Christmas of 1837 that the “Caroline Affair” took place. This incident involved Canadian troops seizing a U.S. steamboat which had been leased to Canadian insurrectionists. One American was killed. A week later, Van Buren issued a proclamation warning U.S. citizens not to assist in the Canadian revolt. He dispatched Federal troops to the Canada/Maine border.
Canada was still a British Colony in 1837 and for the next few holiday seasons, no White House Christmas cards were sent to Queen Victoria of England. On the day after his final Christmas in the White House in 1840, tensions with Great Britain eased when Alexander McLeod was found not guilty of murder. McLeod, a Canadian, has been arrested in New York for his involvement in the Caroline Affair.
Van Buren was featured in an 1848 political cartoon entitled "shooting the Christmas Turkey". At the time he was he Presidential Candidate for the Free Soil Party. In the cartoon, Democratic and Whig candidates debate strategies to win the presidency, or "shoot the Christmas turkey," as the Free Soil candidate Van Buren makes off with the bird. At left Democrat Lewis Cass (facing front) and Whig Zachary Taylor (facing left), both in military uniform and holding rifles, quarrel about the turkey which is chained to a stake in the center. Taylor: "I tell you, Cass, that I prefer coming to close quarters. It will be as fair for you as for me." Cass: "But I prefer long shots. It will give more chance for the exercise of skill & ingenuity." Taylor running mate Millard Fillmore enters from the left and sighting Van Buren exclaims, "Blood and thunder! I thought that infernal fox was dead: but he has come out of his hole and carried off the prize, while we have been disputing about the preliminaries!" On the far right, Van Buren, as a fox, grasps the turkey by the neck as David Wilmot cheers, "Huzza! Huzza! Victory! Victory!" Wilmot holds up the famous and controversial Wilmot Proviso of 1846, which forbade slavery in territories acquired by the United States in the Mexican War. The measure, embraced by Van Buren but sidestepped by Cass and Taylor, was a burning issue in the 1848 campaign. On the ground in the center of the scene sits New York editor Horace Greeley with a tally sheet marked "Taylor" and "Cass" nearby. Greeley thumbs his nose at Taylor and Cass and says, "Well, Gentlemen, my place has become a sinecure. I need not keep tally for you now." An ardent and powerful Whig spokesman in the 1844 election, Greeley, editor of the influential New York Tribune, had withheld his support for Taylor until late in the 1848 campaign.