THE FREE SOIL CAMPAIGN OF 1848: Dead Presidents

» Mugwump53 - Dead Presidents

You are correct. Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams did not have a close working relationship. Like most running mates in the first half of our history, they didn't really even know each other. (Rutherford B. Hayes even went so far as to ask someone "Who is this Wheeler?" when told who his running mate was.) So, this is nothing surprising. If you want to know more about Charles Francis Adams, read my article "Charles Francis Adams: Unsung Hero" published on Suite 101 on June 2, 2000.

As to Van Buren's relationship with Col. Johnson, it was close to non-existent. Van Buren's opponent in 1836 was William Henry Harrison, whose main claim to fame was that he led the forces that defeated the Indian leader Techumseh. The Democrats, prodded by Jackson, nominated Col. Johnson because he claimed to have been the man to actually kill Techumseh, thereby stealing some of the Whig's thunder.

Johnson proved so unpopular that many of the Democratic electors refused to vote for him. As a result, even though the Decmorats had a majority of the electors and Van Buren won with a majority, Johnson did not. The selection of Vice President went to the Senate for the only time in our history. With a Democratic majority, they almost elected the Whig candidate.

At the end of his term, Johnson had become so unpopular, that the Democratic convention refused to re-nominate him. Van Buren thus became the only President to run for re-election without a running mate. (It seems that Johnson, a slave owner, lived with a slave in common law marriage, and tried to bring her to official state dinners and other social functions and claim full social honors for her due her as his wife. This did not go over very well. Even more distasteful was when his "wife" left him for another man, and he tracked her down and sold her to another slave owner in the deep South.

I once taught a young man who was a direct descendent of Van Buren, and his middle name was Van Buren.

As to your prediliction for Presidential grave sites, here is a site to try: www.starship.python.net/crew/manus/Presidents/index.html#index

Thanks for another interesting post. Always glad to see you come in.

-- posted by Mugwump53