Martin Van Buren served just one term as President from 1837 to 1841, but as the architect behind the founding of the Democratic Party, his legacy lives on in the US today. In this episode, we speak with James M. Bradley, author of the new book Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician, to learn how Van Buren helped reshape politics in the 19th century and laid the groundwork for America’s two-party system.

 

You can learn more about the work being done to preserve the papers of Martin Van Buren at VanBurenPapers.org.  

 

This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.