Our eighth president, Martin Van Buren, was one of the key figures in the development of the Democratic Party. An alliance with the much more popular Andrew Jackson helped Van Buren win the presidency in 1836.
David C. Whitney’s The American Presidents (GuildAmerica Books, 2005, 10th ed.) describes Van Buren’s devotion to constitutional limits, a trait that distinguished him from his populist predecessor.
During the Panic of 1837, Van Buren is quoted as saying:
“All communities are apt to look to government for too much. Even in our own country, where its powers and duties are so strictly limited, we are prone to do so, especially at periods of sudden embarrassment and distress. But this ought not to be. The framers of our excellent Constitution and the people who approved it with calm and sagacious deliberation acted at the time on a sounder principle. They wisely judged that the less government interferes with private pursuits the better for the general prosperity. It is not its legitimate object to make men rich or to repair by direct grants of money or legislation in favor of particular pursuits losses not incurred in public service. This would be substantially to use the property of some for the benefit of others.”
