VAN BUREN MARTIN Autograph Letter Signed MVan Buren to law p

Sale 2413 - Lot 217

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"I CANNOT . . . UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE BE A CANDIDATE" VAN BUREN, MARTIN. Autograph Letter Signed, "MVan Buren," to law partner Benjamin F. Butler, weighing the possibility of a Presidential nomination from the Free Soil Party. 1 1/2 pages, 4to, with integral address leaf; some scattered bleed-through, remnants of prior mounting on terminal page, folds. (TFC) Lindenwald, NY, 18 June 1848

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". . . I cannot by any means or under any circumstance be a candidate & will give such reasons as will be satisfactory to the Convention. The last question as it stood in your draft I ought not for obvious reasons to say anything about. I have however altered my opinion & think a nomination inevitable & expedient. I did not answer your letter in regard to the expediency of your writing to the Genl. but I did not like to dissuade you. I could not under the circumstances encourage you. I . . . will at all events send my answer by Dr Beekman. I have neglected to say to you how much I was delighted with your speech. . . ."
To the Free Soil Party, Van Buren's anti-slavery orientation and his presidential experience made him an attractive candidate in the 1848 election. When he ran as the Free Soil candidate for president, he received no electoral votes, the Democrats having voted for Lewis Cass, who also lost to Whig Zachary Taylor.