KINDERHOOK, N.Y. – New York Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Michel Natali paid tribute to the nation’s eighth president —Martin Van Buren— as he laid a wreath from President Donald J. Trump at Van Buren’s gravesite on Dec. 5.
Van Buren, who was nicknamed “Old Kinderhook” after the town where he was born and where he died, served as president from 1837 to 1841.
Natali, who serves as assistant adjutant general, Army, for the New York National Guard, said it was an honor to pay tribute to Van Buren on his 243rd birthday.
Natali and New York Army Guard Command Sgt. Maj. Leylan Jones placed the wreath sent by the White House at Van Buren’s grave in Kinderhook Reformed Church Cemetery. Ten Soldiers assigned to the New York Joint Force Headquarters saluted and presented colors, followed by a bugler playing taps.
Forty people braved the 15-degree Fahrenheit temperature and looked on as the wreath was laid.
Since 1967, military officers have placed a wreath sent by the current president at the graves of former presidents on the anniversary of each former president's birth.
“I think it’s a great tradition,” Natali said.
“It feels good, it feels like we are in touch with our history. It reminds us of our legacy,” Natali added.
The annual celebration is a community event. Wreaths were presented by the town and village of Kinderhook; the Kinderhook Garden Club, which maintains the Van Buren gravesite; the National Park Service, which oversees the Martin Van Buren Historic Site; and the local group that supports the historic site.
The fact that Van Buren returned to his hometown to live after his active political career ended is very significant, Natali said.
“When the time came to retire, he came back to his roots, to his hometown,” the general said.
Sgt. Alexandria Medard, a member of the New York National Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters, said it was an honor to be able to recognize a president.
Sally Naramore, a member of the Kinderhook town council, said she braved the cold weather because she wanted to recognize a national leader.
“It is important to recognize what each president did,” she said.
“It is really celebrating, not so much the man, but the position. We need to remember what this position is supposed to be for, to be a servant of the people,” Naramore added.
Van Buren was born in the village in 1782, just as the American Revolution was winding down. He was the son of a tavern keeper and grew up speaking Dutch.
He died in July 1862, as the Civil War was raging, at Lindenwald, his estate at the edge of the village that is now a National Park site. He was buried in the cemetery of his local church alongside his wife Hannah, who died in 1819.
Van Buren, Natali noted in his remarks, was the first United States president not born a subject of the King of England.
Van Buren served as president from 1837 to 1841. Prior to that, he served as a judge, a New York state senator, the New York attorney general, a U.S. senator, the governor of New York, and the secretary of state.
He is credited with creating the Democratic Party as a national party and for being a first-rate political operator.
As president, Van Buren sought to prevent the country from being torn apart over the issues surrounding slavery. For this reason, he refused to admit Texas as a state after it broke away from Mexico in 1836. He was afraid a new slave-owning state would disrupt the balance of power in the Union.
He also worked to resolve disputes with Great Britain over border questions between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada. He also stopped American citizens from sending supplies to Canadian rebels in Ontario to prevent a war.
Van Buren ran for president twice more without being elected before he gave up politics to become a farmer.
In his will, he described that period as “the last and happiest time in my life, a farmer in my native town,” according to the National Park Service.
New York Army and Air National Guard contingents take turns presenting the wreath at Van Buren’s gravesite each year.
The New York National Guard also places wreaths at the gravesites of President Chester Arthur —the 21st president— in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, and at the grave of President Millard Fillmore —the 13th president— at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.