The first "professional politician" to become president, the slick and dandyish Martin Van Buren was to all appearances the opposite of his predecessor, the rugged general and Democratic champion Andrew Jackson.
Van Buren, a native Dutch speaker, was America's first ethnic president as well as the first New Yorker to hold the office. Ted Widmer, a veteran of the Clinton White House, vividly brings to life the chaos and contention that plagued Van Buren's presidency - and ultimately offered an early lesson in the power of democracy.
