Shepard follows Van Buren from Kinderhook lawyer and state senator to United States senator, organiser of the Jacksonian Democratic party, secretary of state, minister to England, vice-president and president through the panic of 1837 and the sub-treasury fight, arguing that his subject had been unfairly treated by earlier writers.
A thoughtful political biography from the American Statesmen series, good on how party politics took shape. Download the free EPUB.