Van Buren
Jackson's popularity remained high as his second term came to an end. In 1836, his handpicked successor, Martin Van Buren, defeated the Whig opposition and kept the presidency in the hands of the Democrats. Soon after taking office, the new president reaped the consequences of Jackson's Bank War.
Without the restraining influence of the B.U.S., the state banks issued too many notes and too many loans. Speculators ran wild and prices spiked. The unregulated economy crashed in 1837. Businesses failed, factories closed, debtors defaulted, and banks failed. A wave of crop failures added to the nation's misery. The resulting economic downturn was called the Panic of 1837.
Van Buren struggled throughout his term to find ways to pull the nation out of the depression. As the election of 1840 approached, Whigs sensed their opportunity to finally break the Democratic hold on the executive branch.
