NY Presidents Pop Quiz #5
In honor of Presidents Day, AOA has decided to slack off today. A little bit. But only because we're honoring the presidents. And with that in mind, we've put together a little presidential pop quiz -- we'll be posting one question for each of the six presidents from New York today.
Question: Which New York president, just 5 feet 6 inches tall, was nicknamed "The Little Magician." And during his presidency the role of first lady was not filled by his wife.
The answer's after the jump.
Answer: Martin Van Buren
The nation's 6th 8th president represented a lot of firsts. He was the first president from New York (he was born in Kinderhook). He was the first president born a US citizen. He was the first president of not of British or Irish descent (he was Dutch). And he was the first president not to have spoken English as a first language (again, Dutch).
Van Buren was a "trim and erect" 5 feet 6 inches tall. His stature and his savvy for navigating New York State politics earned him the nickname "The Little Magician" (he's credited with creating the first statewide political machine).
MVB's wife died two decades before he became president. As a result, many of the duties of First Lady fell to his daughter-in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren. Singleton and Van Buren's son met after being set up by Dolley Madison.
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Comments
Good Presidential trivia today, guys. This wouldn't have been nearly as much fun if we lived in, say, Montana.
... said James Cronen on Feb 16, 2009 at 4:38 PM | link
6th President? I think not. 8th! You made me doubt my Kinderhookian street creds for a minute - but just a minute.
Editors: Thanks. Erf. We're not sure what we were thinking. We hope the good people of Kinderhook will forgive us.
... said Sarah on Feb 16, 2009 at 5:32 PM | link
MVB has a reputation for being a bit of a lame-o, as presidents go, but I disagree. Think about it. He allegedly coined the word, "OK," (and I'm assuming that Fonzie thumbs move. Seems logical) and grew hops as a primary crop at Lindenwald, his estate in Kinderhook, which means he was probably a home-brewer. How cool is that? Also if you go visit the historic site you can stop by the (less awesome than it used to be but still pretty good) Red Barn. So he's got that going for him.
@Sarah ;)
... said Leigh on Feb 16, 2009 at 6:59 PM | link
MVB was the man, and his house is pretty sweet to, I performed a wedding there once and it was pretty rad
plus folks from K-Hook love the guy, i know i do
... said JVG on Feb 17, 2009 at 8:34 AM | link