He was one of the first statewide political machines in the country was success resulted from its professional use of patronage, the legislative caucus, and the official party newspaper.....[In Washington] he labored to bring about the reorganization of the Republican Party through an alliance between what he called "the planters of the South and the plain Republicans of the North."... [His Democratic] emphasized the importance of building popular majorities and it perfected political techniques which would appeal to the masses....Heretofore parties were regarded as evils to be tolerated; Van Buren argued that the party system was the most sensible and intelligent way the affairs of the nation could be democratically conducted, a viewpoint that eventually won national approval.[262]
Gubernatorial portrait of Martin Van Buren by Daniel Huntington in The Civil War
However, his presidency is considered to be average, at best, by historians. He was blamed for the Panic of 1837 and defeated for reelection.[29] His tenure was dominated by the economic conditions caused by the panic, and historians have split on the adequacy of the Independent Treasury as a response.[263] Some historians disagree with these negative assessments. 