VOA慢速英语2017--Martin Van Buren: Just OK

 

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.

Today we are talking about Martin Van Buren. He was sworn in as the eighth president of the United States in 1837.

Van Buren had already been working for the White House for several years. He had been the secretary of state for President Andrew Jackson, and later his vice¹ president.

Jackson asked his party, the Democrats², to nominate Van Buren as their presidential candidate in the 1836 election.

They agreed, and Van Buren won that election easily. But he did not win the next election. Or the next. Or the next.

Presidency³

In his inaugural⁴ speech in 1837, Van Buren noted⁵ that he was the first U.S. president to be born after the American Revolution.

He was also the first president who was not from a British family. His ancestors were Dutch.

He remains⁶ the only president – so far – who did not speak English as his first language.

In his inaugural speech, Van Buren predicted better times for Americans.

But several days later, an economic crisis struck. The situation put the country in a depression that lasted for the rest of Van Buren’s term. It was one reason the president’s opponents called him “Martin Van Ruin.”

The depression was not Van Buren’s only problem. He also faced a dispute with Britain related to the border between the U.S. and Canada. The conflict nearly turned into war.

Historian Joel Silbey says most experts do not think Van Buren was a strong president.

However, Silbey notes, Van Buren left an important legacy⁷ that still operates today: He created the modern U.S. political system.

Early life

Van Buren’s political education began early.

His father was a farmer and operated a hotel at a small town in New York State. Lawmakers sometimes visited the hotel. By listening to them, the future president learned about politics.

Eventually, Van Buren studied in a law office and became a lawyer. In the first years of his career, he defended farmers who were fighting large plantation⁸ owners for their land. As a result, he developed a reputation for helping⁹ the common man.

Van Buren became a local official, and then a senator and governor of New York.

When he was 24, he married a young woman he had grown up with. But she died of tuberculosis¹⁰ after 12 years, leaving him with four sons.

Historian Joel Silbey says although Van Buren did not remarry, “he was known as quite charming among the ladies.”

Political animal

Van Buren had a gift for politics – that is, developing relationships and forming alliances.

Historian Joel Silbey says most people who knew Van Buren liked him. He seemed warm and friendly. He tried to keep his work-related life and social activities separate. It was not unusual to see him exchange handshakes, smiles and jokes with men who were his political enemies.

His ability to make friends became a powerful tool. Before Van Buren, even lawmakers from the same political party operated independently. They had their own beliefs, their own supporters, and their own allies. Van Buren brought them together.

First he identified people who followed the ideas of Thomas Jefferson: support for independent farmers and states’ rights. The group had become known as the Democratic Party (although it was in many ways different from the Democratic Party of today).

Van Buren organized meetings for Democrats to talk about their political beliefs. He persuaded them to support the same policies – at that time, the policies of Andrew Jackson.

Sometimes, Van Buren helped people who supported Jackson’s policies. He gave them government jobs.

Van Buren also used a series of meetings to choose one presidential candidate for the party. If this process seems clear-cut, it was not at the time. During the election of 1824, for example, a single party had four separate candidates for president, one for each part of the country.

Van Buren’s system eventually gave rise to the national conventions that major U.S. parties use today to nominate their candidates.

Model campaigner

Van Buren also helped create the modern political campaign. In the 1820s, he saw that many state constitutions were lifting some of their voting restrictions¹¹. As a result, states were giving more white males the right to vote. (Women and most African-American men were still largely prohibited from voting.)

Historian Joel Silbey says Van Buren wanted to bring these new voters into the Democratic Party. He decided¹² to improve on the methods that other, smaller groups had used: campaign events, speeches, and organized efforts to bring people to vote on Election Day.

Silbey explains that these efforts to persuade and energize¹³ voters were new to national politics. Now they are some of the major features of political campaigns.

Live by the sword, die by the sword

In the election of 1840, Van Buren sought a second term as president. This time his opponents used Van Buren’s political techniques against him.

Silbey says the new opposition¹⁴ party, called the Whigs, used popular speeches and events to portray¹⁵ Van Buren as a failed president.

Crowds shouted, “Mattie Van is a used-up man!” In other words, he no longer had any power or effect in government.

Critics also made fun of Van Buren’s fine-looking, even fussy¹⁶ clothes. They portrayed¹⁷ him as a rich, elite¹⁸ candidate. They compared him unfavorably to their candidate, a military hero named William Henry Harrison.

Yet it was Van Buren who had come from a poor family, and Harrison from a wealthy one.

Even so, Van Buren lost the election of 1840.

Four years later, Van Buren again sought the presidency. This time, even Andrew Jackson did not support him. Instead, Jackson backed a man who supported the seizure¹⁹ of Texas and expanding slavery: James Polk.

But Van Buren did not permit those defeats to stop his political career. He ran again in the presidential election of 1848.

This time, Van Buren withdrew from the Democratic Party he had helped build. He ran instead as the candidate of a new, anti-slavery party, called the Free Soilers.

But even Van Buren’s political skills could not persuade voters. He did not win a single state.

After losing this final presidential election, Van Buren finally retired²⁰. He spent time with his children and grandchildren, traveled, and wrote about his life.

At 79 he died of heart failure.

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Words in This Story

inaugural - adj. happening as part of an official ceremony or celebration when a newly elected official begins an important job

reputation - n. the common opinion that people have about someone or something

charming - adj. very pleasing or appealing

ladies - n. women, usually of high social position

clear-cut - adj. obvious

features - n. important parts

portray - v. to describe someone in a particular way

fussy - adj. to fancy or complicated

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

8 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

10 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

11 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 energize   

vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量

参考例句：

• It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
• This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒，可以激活你的能量，让你有更多的活力！

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

16 fussy   

adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的

参考例句：

• He is fussy about the way his food's cooked.他过分计较食物的烹调。
• The little girl dislikes her fussy parents.小女孩讨厌她那过分操心的父母。

17 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

19 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

20 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。