Martin Van Buren

People love a good scandal true or false – but especially if it involves peccadilloes.

Aaron Burr (1756-1836)

Aaron Burr had an interesting, if volatile and suspect career. In more than 250 years, he has attracted an assortment of partisans and detractors. There is no definitive conclusion, save that his character and actions remain divisive.

Young Aaron Burr

Orphaned early to be raised by prominent relatives, he nevertheless attended (now) Princeton University where he was acquainted with James Madison. He was a brilliant student, returned to New York to study law, joined the Continental Army (perhaps to enhance his budding law practice).

He served under a variety of commanders, including Benedict Arnold and later a brief stint as ADC to George Washington. But he preferred active service, fought bravely, and finally was discharged for health reasons.

Always ambitious, he became politically active in New York politics, usually siding with the powerful faction of Governor George Clinton (Democratic-Republican), as opposed to the powerful faction of General Philip Schuyler (Federalist), father-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. By the 1790s, Burr had been elected to the US Senate.

The rest of his story involves the contested election of 1800, serving as VPOTUS, killing Hamilton in a duel, tried for suspected treason, living abroad, a late-in-life scandalous marriage – and divorce – and finally dying in poverty, at 80.

Martin Van Buren (1782-1862)

Young Matty Van Buren

Born in Kinderhook, a tiny Dutch-speaking village about 20 miles from Albany, Martin was the third of five children (and three half-siblings) of Maria Hoes Van Alen and innkeeper Abraham Van Buren. His early life and schooling were unremarkable. His formal education ended when he was about fourteen – average for that time.

But he was a bright and ambitious fellow and took advantage of the opportunity to read law with a local attorney. They in turn were the ones who admonished him to take greater care with his personal/physical appearance. He took the advice, and became a very natty dresser. He also became active in local politics. Leaning toward the Democratic-Republican political philosophy, he spent a year in the New York City office of William P. VanNess, a political colleague and supporter of Aaron Burr. It is not unlikely that this is where they became acquainted.

The Insinuations of Bastardy

From the onset of Martin Van Buren’s legal career, there were speculations that Martin Van Buren was the illegitimate son of Aaron Burr.

The rumors persisted throughout his life. Not only has it never been proven, but it has never even been close to proven.

Any resemblance seems superficial.

Burr, about 26 years older, had much in common with young Van Buren. The were both relatively short people, perhaps 5’7” at most. They were also somewhat stocky in build, and loved fine clothing. They both had receding hairlines as they aged. Both were wildly ambitious – no detriment to either. Ambition is essential if one wishes to succeed. They were both considered excellent attorneys, gifted in political sway, and near genius at organization. They were also both known to waffle and switch their political affiliations from time to time, if it suited them and smoothed their upward paths.

In 1782, when Martin Van Buren was born, Burr had already resigned from the Continental Army due to continuing poor health. However, he had been involved for three years in romantic liaison with Theodosia Provost, ten years his senior – and already married. When her husband died in 1781, he married her. They had a daughter, born in 1783.

So Why Did The Rumors Persist?

The inferences of a wrong-side-of-the-blanket relationship between Aaron Burr and Martin Van Buren persisted long after Burr died, and even surfaced occasionally till the time MVB died in 1862 (also at age 80), but not in poverty. Those subtle innuendos were even grist for John Quincy Adams’ diary, and ol’ JQ was known to have a salacious streak for the rumors of the boudoir.

Both AB and MVB were wily politicians. Burr had his fingers in all sorts of political shenanigans, which seems to offset his reasonable and genuine accomplishments. Both shenanigans and accomplishments were always undertaken to further Aaron Burr.

Van Buren, was known as the “Sly Fox” or “Red Fox” of Kinderhook. Occasionally he was referred to as the Little Magician. He could dance some very fancy footwork to achieve political ends, whether for himself, of for others (which usually benefited himself).

Between the physical resemblance and the political acumen, (or even their terms as VPOTUS), one might make a case, however slim – or erroneous.

The Widow Eliza Jumel, AB’s second wife.

Aaron Burr was undoubtedly a ladies’ man. He was known to have had many amours, and it is speculated that his illegitimate children peppered the countryside. His wife Theodosia died twelve years after their marriage, and she had been very ill for a long time. Burr was only 40, but he did not remarry the wealthy widow Eliza Bowen Jumel until he was 77! That brief but disastrous union was undertaken so he could commandeer his new bride’s considerable fortune to finance his business speculations. With near-lightning speed, his enterprises failed, and she was practically impoverished. She sued for divorce, claiming infidelity, among other causes.

In the interim, there were rumors of romances at several locations. In his elder years, Burr had two young-ish men living under his roof, and under his wing. Many people believed they were his illegitimate sons.

Hannah Hoes Van Buren, MVB’s one and only.

But if there were some physical and political characteristics between Burr and Van Buren, romance was not one of them. Van Buren was married at 25 to his childhood sweetheart, Hannah Hoes. She bore him five children (four living to maturity). When she died, after 12 years of marriage (at only 35), he never remarried. While he was unfailingly courteous and gallant toward the ladies, his name was never linked romantically with another woman.

He was a devoted father to his four sons, keeping them very close in his life – for as long as he lived.

Sources:

Miller, Hope Ridings – Scandals in the Highest Office: Facts and Fictions in the Private Lives of Our Presidents – Random House, 1973

Stewart, David O. – American Emperor: Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America – Simon & Schuster, 2011

https://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/burr.html

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/martin-van-buren