Van Buren was born in Kinderhook, New York, in 1782. Van Buren studied law by working for Francis Sylvester and later became a lawyer in 1803. In 1821 he was elected as a member of the United States Senate, representing New York. President Andrew Jackson selected him as the Secretary of State in 1827. In 1832, he became Vice-President for Jackson, and in 1836, he became the 8th President of the United States. During most of the time he was president, the economy was in very bad shape, and he was blamed for it. He was the first president to have been born a United States citizen, since all of his predecessors were born British subjects before the American Revolution.