President Martin Van Buren

Historian James Bradley has written a major new biography of local resident and the 8th president of the United States, Martin Van Buren. He was the first chief executive not born a British citizen and the first to use the party system to chart his way from tavern-keeper's son to the pinnacle of power.This new biography of Van Buren - the first full-scale portrait in four decades - charts his ascent from a tavern in the Hudson Valley to the presidency, concluding with his late-career involvement in an antislavery movement. Offering vivid profiles of the day's leading figures (Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, DeWitt Clinton, James K. Polk), James Bradley's book depicts the struggle for power in the tumultuous decades leading up to the Civil War.

An official from the Netherlands was in the Hudson Valley last week, conducting historical research and strengthening the ties of two sister cities. Jan…

New York National Guard members will lay a wreath on President Martin Van Buren's Hudson Valley grave on his birthdate.Van Buren was born in Kinderhook,…

The New York National Guard will honor a former president by laying a wreath at his grave site Friday morning in Columbia County.New York Army National…