Happy Presidents' Day, 2022 -- February 21, 2022

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Happy Presidents' Day, everyone.

Martin van Buren was an agile politician. He was one of the founders of the Democratic Party. He was Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson, and then served as Jackson's Vice President. When Jackson left office, Van Buren won the 1836 election, but his term was damaged by the Panic of 1837. Van Buren was opposed to Texas joining the Union because of slavery. He lost the 1840 election to William Henry Harrison, a Whig. In 1844, Van Buren ran for president as the nominee of the Free Soil party, an abolitionist organization. He favored abolition for the rest of his life.

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Martin Van Buren was portrayed by Nigel Hawthorne in Steven Spielberg's Amistad.

Jackson Square and Cathedral St. Louis, New Orleans, LA. -- June 11, 2018

An old postcard shows the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral.

Battle of New Orleans 200 -- January 11, 2015

Library of Congress, LC-USZC2-3796.

January 8 was the 100th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, the last battle of the War of 1812.  The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, had been signed on 24-December-1814, but it took a long time for news to get across the Atlantic. 

The British attached American earthworks at Chalmette Plantation.  Two heavy assaults left the British commander dead.  291 British soldiers died and 13 American. 

General Andrew Jackson was the hero of the day.