Martin Van Buren Trivia Questions And Answers
Who was the 8th President of the United States?
A: Martin Van Buren.
Who was Martin Van Buren’s vice president?
A: Richard Mentor Johnson.
Before becoming president, Martin was the eighth what?
A: Vice President.
How tall was Martin Van Buren?
A: 5 feet, 6 inches.
Van Buren was the first president that was not of British
or Irish what?
A: Descent—his family was Dutch.
Martin was the first president to have been born a what?
A: United States citizen.
Van Buren was the first president to not be a what?
A: Native English speaker.
Van Buren was the last Vice President to be elected
directly to the presidency until whom?
A: George H. W. Bush in
1988.
Where was Martin Van Buren born?
A: In the village of Kinderhook, New York.
When was Martin Van Buren born?
A: On December 5, 1782.
Who was Martin’s father?
A: Abraham Van Buren, a farmer and tavern owner/operator.
Who was Martin Van Buren's mother?
A: Maria Hoes Van Alen Van Buren.
Where did Van Buren receive a basic education?
A: At a poorly lit schoolhouse in his native village.
Who did Martin Van Buren marry?
A: Hannah Hoes, his childhood sweetheart and first cousin once removed.
On what date did Martin marry Hannah?
A: On February 21, 1807.
Like Van Buren, Hannah was raised in a what?
A: Dutch home.
How many children did Martin and Hannah have?
A: Five sons and one daughter.
What were the names of Van Buren’s sons?
A: Abraham, John, Martin, Jr., Winfield Scott, and Smith Thompson.
At what age did Martin’s wife Hannah die from tuberculosis?
A: 35.
Van Buren had been active in politics from at least the age
of what?
A: 17 when he attended a party convention in Troy, New York.
Martin formed a law partnership with whom?
A: His half-brother James I. Van Alen.
From 1812 to 1820, Van Buren was a member of the what?
A: New York State Senate.
Martin Van Buren was the New York Attorney General from
1815 to what year?
A: 1819.
What nickname did Van Buren garner for the skill with which
he exploited what came to be called the "spoils system"?
A: "Little Magician".
Martin served as a member of the 1820 state constitutional
convention, where he favored expanded voting rights, but opposed what?
A: Universal suffrage.
Van Buren was the prime architect of the first what?
A: Nationwide political party: the Jacksonian
Democrats.
In February 1821, Martin Van Buren was elected a what?
A: U.S. Senator from New York.
Who did Van Buren support in the presidential
election of
1824?
A: William H. Crawford.
In February 1827, Martin was re-elected to the Senate by a
what?
A: Large majority.
In 1828, what office did Van Buren run for and win?
A: Governor of New York.
Martin Van Buren's tenure as New York governor is the
second “what” on record?
A: Shortest.
On March 5, 1829, President Jackson appointed Van Buren
what?
A: Secretary of State.
Who were Martin Van Buren's competitors in the 1836
election?
A: The Whigs.
Van Buren won the 1836 election easily, with how many
electoral votes?
A: 170 with 73 for Harrison, 26 for White, 14 for Webster and 11 for Mangum.
Martin Van Buren retained all but one of Jackson's what?
A: Cabinet.
