🇺🇸 Trivia of the Day
Published on November 17, 2025
Who was the first U.S. President to be born an American citizen?
The correct answer is Martin Van Buren. Born on December 5, 1782, in Kinderhook, New York, Martin Van Buren was the first U.S. president born as an American citizen — after the United States had declared its independence in 1776. All presidents before him, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were born as British subjects in the American colonies.
Van Buren served as the 8th President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A key architect of the modern Democratic Party, he was a master political organizer often nicknamed “The Little Magician” for his shrewdness and skill in managing elections and party coalitions. Before his presidency, he served as Vice President and Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson.
Van Buren’s presidency coincided with the Panic of 1837, a major financial crisis that led to a prolonged economic depression. Despite his political struggles, his distinction as the first “natural-born” American president remains an important milestone in U.S. history — symbolizing the nation’s first generation of leaders truly born under the American flag.
Fun fact: Martin Van Buren was also the first U.S. president whose first language wasn’t English — he grew up speaking Dutch at home in New York’s Hudson Valley.