The Autobiography of Martin Van Buren
edited by . (Annual Report of the American Historical Association, Volume II.) Government Printing Office, 1920. Large 8vo, 808 pp. $1.00.
AN account of political movements in the United States for half a century, by one who was by nature and training a master of political management and a leading participant — what could hold out a better promise of historical interpretation? Having reached his seventy-first year, and while in a foreign land, Martin Van Buren undertakes to review his career and his relations with friends — friends in fact, for with few opponents did he fail to come into friendly relations in his last years, and he takes pride in the long catalogue of such reconciliations.
His early activities in the politics of New York State, by which he forced himself into a commanding position, his entrance into national affairs, first in the Senate, and his successive promotions to be Secretary of State, Minister to England, Vice-President, and President, present unforgettable pictures of intrigue, greed, and partisanship, when success demanded an unscrupulous use of agencies. The record is incomplete, ending with the Vice-Presidency, and is thus concerned with his advance, not with his decline, in public favor. He seeks ‘to give an inside view of the actions of public men—a view which differs materially from that which is seen by the public,’and he believes he has ‘tempered the admitted ardor of his political life as an influence on his judgment’ so as to do justice to all concerned. Perhaps he has been a little too successful in moderating feelings, and the continuous stream of commendation tends to become wearisome. In spite of diffuseness and repetition, it is well done, and presents the writer in a somewhat new light.
Not a little sound political philosophy can be gleaned from this volume, for Van Buren had a wide experience, and was not blind to the defects of party government. On patronage and its abuse be is eloquent; on the intemperate abuse of rivals and the trickery of ambitious partisans he writes much, and with full knowledge of the possibilities — and reactions. Behind his words of praise and between the lines of his narrative may be seen bitterness of disappointed hopes, broken faith, and disillusioned candor. The New York politician of his day was not squeamish about means to attain an end, and in Washington intrigue was on quite as low a level. The characters he draws of his contemporaries are touched with the mellowness of age, but they cannot conceal the fact that the objects were opposed to him, and that his victory over them was costly. Out of the past he calls many an obscure local leader, and the portraits are not untrue. For Jackson his loyalty and admiration are unbounded. It is an unquestioning confidence and the brightest influence in his life. Clay, Calhoun, Adams, Webster, and a host of others are praised as men, but the account of their political beliefs and practices carries condemnation because they were not of the Jefferson-Jackson stripe.
In many digressions Van Buren states each administrative problem from the beginning, applies his individual measure, and gives judgment accordingly. History has long since passed with a touch of finality on these matters, and Van Buren’s views often run counter to the decisions of history. Read as a personal record, the volume has an interest even beyond its subject, and as a source of ‘characters’ it is unusually rich.
WORTHINGTON C. FORD.