John C. Calhoun was the only vice president to ever cast tie-breaking votes against his own president, Andrew Jackson. President Jackson nominated Martin Van Buren as United States Minister to the United Kingdom, as Van Buren was acting minister on a recess appointment. Calhoun cast a tie-breaking vote to delay the nomination on January 13, 1832, and later cast a vote to defeat the nomination on January 25. Calhoun's supporters in the Senate provided him with the opportunity to spite Jackson, where just enough of Calhoun's faction abstained to create a tie that he was then able to break.