title: Martin Van Buren

text: Led by Floride Calhoun, wife of Vice President John Calhoun, the other cabinet wives refused to pay courtesy calls to the Eatons, receive them as visitors, or invite them to social events. As a widower, Van Buren was unaffected by the position of the cabinet wives. Van Buren initially sought to mend the divide in the cabinet, but most of the leading citizens in Washington continued to snub the Eatons. Jackson was close to Eaton, and he came to the conclusion that the allegations against Eaton arose from a plot against his administration led by Henry Clay. The Petticoat Affair, combined with a contentious debate over the tariff and Calhoun's decade-old criticisms of Jackson's actions in the First Seminole War, contributed to a split between Jackson and Calhoun. As the debate over the tariff and the proposed ability of South Carolina to nullify federal law consumed Washington, Van Buren increasingly emerged as Jackson's likely successor.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: The Petticoat affair was finally resolved when Van Buren offered to resign. In April 1831, Jackson accepted and reorganized his cabinet by asking for the resignations of the anti-Eaton cabinet members. Postmaster General William T. Barry, who had sided with the Eatons in the Petticoat Affair, was the lone cabinet member to remain in office. The cabinet reorganization removed Calhoun's allies from the Jackson administration, and Van Buren had a major role in shaping the new cabinet. After leaving office, Van Buren continued to play a part in the Kitchen Cabinet, Jackson's informal circle of advisors.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: In August 1831, Jackson gave Van Buren a recess appointment as the ambassador to Britain, and Van Buren arrived in London in September. He was cordially received, but in February 1832, he learned that the Senate had rejected his nomination. The rejection of Van Buren was essentially the work of Calhoun. When the vote on Van Buren's nomination was taken, enough pro-Calhoun Jacksonians refrained from voting to produce a tie, which allowed Calhoun to cast the deciding vote against Van Buren.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Calhoun was elated, convinced that he had ended Van Buren's career. "It will kill him dead, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick", Calhoun exclaimed to a friend. Calhoun's move backfired; by making Van Buren appear the victim of petty politics, Calhoun raised Van Buren in both Jackson's regard and the esteem of others in the Democratic Party. Far from ending Van Buren's career, Calhoun's action gave greater impetus to Van Buren's candidacy for vice president.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Seeking to ensure that Van Buren would replace Calhoun as his running mate, Jackson had arranged for a national convention of his supporters. The May 1832 Democratic National Convention subsequently nominated Van Buren to serve as the party's vice presidential nominee. Van Buren won the nomination over Philip P. Barbour (Calhoun's favored candidate) and Richard Mentor Johnson due to the support of Jackson and the strength of the Albany Regency. Upon Van Buren's return from Europe in July 1832, he became involved in the Bank War, a struggle over the renewal of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren had long been distrustful of banks, and he viewed the Bank as an extension of the Hamiltonian economic program, so he supported Jackson's veto of the Bank's re-charter. Henry Clay, the presidential nominee of the National Republicans, made the struggle over the Bank the key issue of the presidential election of 1832. The Jackson–Van Buren ticket won the 1832 election by a landslide, and Van Buren took office as vice president in March 1833. During the Nullification Crisis, Van Buren counseled Jackson to pursue a policy of conciliation with South Carolina leaders. He played little direct role in the passage of the Tariff of 1833, but he quietly hoped that the tariff would help bring an end to the Nullification Crisis, which it did.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: As Vice President, Van Buren continued to be one of Jackson's primary advisors and confidants, and accompanied Jackson on his tour of the northeastern United States in 1833. Jackson's struggle with the Second Bank of the United States continued, as the president sought to remove federal funds from the Bank. Though initially apprehensive of the removal due to congressional support for the Bank, Van Buren eventually came to support Jackson's policy. He also helped undermine a fledgling alliance between Jackson and Daniel Webster, a senator from Massachusetts who could have potentially threatened Van Buren's project to create two parties separated by policy differences rather than personalities. During Jackson's second term, the president's supporters began to refer to themselves as members of the Democratic Party. Meanwhile, those opposed to Jackson, including Clay's National Republicans, followers of Calhoun and Webster, and many members of the Anti-Masonic Party, coalesced into the Whig Party.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: President Andrew Jackson declined to seek another term in the 1836 presidential election, but he remained influential within the Democratic Party as his second term came to an end. Jackson was determined to help elect Van Buren in 1836 so that the latter could continue the Jackson administration's policies. The two men—the charismatic "Old Hickory" and the efficient "Sly Fox"—had entirely different personalities but had become an effective team in eight years in office together. With Jackson's support, Van Buren won the presidential nomination of the 1835 Democratic National Convention without opposition. Two names were put forward for the vice-presidential nomination: Representative Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, and former Senator William Cabell Rives of Virginia. Southern Democrats, and Van Buren himself, strongly preferred Rives. Jackson, on the other hand, strongly preferred Johnson. Again, Jackson's considerable influence prevailed, and Johnson received the required two-thirds vote after New York Senator Silas Wright prevailed upon non-delegate Edward Rucker to cast the 15 votes of the absent Tennessee delegation in Johnson's favor.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren's competitors in the election of 1836 were three members of the Whig Party, which remained a loose coalition bound by mutual opposition to Jackson's anti-bank policies. Lacking the party unity or organizational strength to field a single ticket or define a single platform, the Whigs ran several regional candidates in hopes of sending the election to the House of Representatives. The three candidates were Hugh Lawson White of Tennessee, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and William Henry Harrison of Indiana. Besides endorsing internal improvements and a national bank, the Whigs tried to tie Democrats to abolitionism and sectional tension, and attacked Jackson for "acts of aggression and usurpation of power".


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Southern voters represented the biggest potential impediment to Van Buren's quest for the presidency, as many were apprehensive at the prospect of a Northern president. Van Buren moved to obtain their support by assuring them that he opposed abolitionism and supported maintaining slavery in states where it already existed. To demonstrate consistency regarding his opinions on slavery, Van Buren cast the tie-breaking Senate vote for a bill to subject abolitionist mail to state laws, thus ensuring that its circulation would be prohibited in the South. Van Buren considered slavery to be immoral but sanctioned by the Constitution.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren won the election with 764,198 popular votes, 50.9% of the total, and 170 electoral votes. Harrison led the Whigs with 73 electoral votes, White receiving 26, and Webster 14. Willie Person Mangum received South Carolina's 11 electoral votes, which were awarded by the state legislature. Van Buren's victory resulted from a combination of his attractive political and personal qualities, Jackson's popularity and endorsement, the organizational power of the Democratic Party, and the inability of the Whig Party to muster an effective candidate and campaign. Virginia's presidential electors voted for Van Buren for president, but voted for William Smith for vice president, leaving Johnson one electoral vote short of election. In accordance with the Twelfth Amendment, the Senate elected Johnson vice president in a contingent vote.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: The election of 1836 marked an important turning point in American political history because it saw the establishment of the Second Party System. In the early 1830s, the political party structure was still changing, rapidly, and factional and personal leaders continued to play a major role in politics. By the end of the campaign of 1836, the new party system was almost complete, as nearly every faction had been absorbed by either the Democrats or the Whigs.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren retained much of Jackson's cabinet and lower-level appointees, as he hoped that the retention of Jackson's appointees would stop Whig momentum in the South and restore confidence in the Democrats as a party of sectional unity. The cabinet holdovers represented the different regions of the country: Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury came from New England, Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler and Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson hailed from mid-Atlantic states, Secretary of State John Forsyth represented the South, and Postmaster General Amos Kendall of Kentucky represented the West.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: For the lone open position of Secretary of War, Van Buren first approached William Cabell Rives, who had sought the vice presidency in 1836. After Rives declined to join the cabinet, Van Buren appointed Joel Roberts Poinsett, a South Carolinian who had opposed secession during the Nullification Crisis. Van Buren's cabinet choices were criticized by Pennsylvanians such as James Buchanan, who argued that their state deserved a cabinet position as well as some Democrats who argued that Van Buren should have used his patronage powers to augment his power. However, Van Buren saw value in avoiding contentious patronage battles, and his decision to retain Jackson's cabinet made it clear that he intended to continue the policies of his predecessor. Additionally, Van Buren had helped select Jackson's cabinet appointees and enjoyed strong working relationships with them.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren held regular formal cabinet meetings and discontinued the informal gatherings of advisors that had attracted so much attention during Jackson's presidency. He solicited advice from department heads, tolerated open and even frank exchanges between cabinet members, perceiving himself as "a mediator, and to some extent an umpire between the conflicting opinions" of his counselors. Such detachment allowed the president to reserve judgment and protect his prerogative for making final decisions. These open discussions gave cabinet members a sense of participation and made them feel part of a functioning entity, rather than isolated executive agents. Van Buren was closely involved in foreign affairs and matters pertaining to the Treasury Department; but the Post Office, War Department, and Navy Department had significant autonomy under their respective cabinet secretaries.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: When Van Buren entered office, the nation's economic health had taken a turn for the worse and the prosperity of the early 1830s was over. Two months into his presidency, on May 10, 1837, some important state banks in New York, running out of hard currency reserves, refused to convert paper money into gold or silver, and other financial institutions throughout the nation quickly followed suit. This financial crisis would become known as the Panic of 1837. The Panic was followed by a five-year depression in which banks failed and unemployment reached record highs.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren blamed the economic collapse on greedy American and foreign business and financial institutions, as well as the over-extension of credit by U.S. banks. Whig leaders in Congress blamed the Democrats, along with Andrew Jackson's economic policies, specifically his 1836 Specie Circular. Cries of "rescind the circular!" went up and former president Jackson sent word to Van Buren asking him not to rescind the order, believing that it had to be given enough time to work. Others, like Nicholas Biddle, believed that Jackson's dismantling of the Bank of the United States was directly responsible for the irresponsible creation of paper money by the state banks which had precipitated this panic. The Panic of 1837 loomed large over the 1838 election cycle, as the carryover effects of the economic downturn led to Whig gains in both the U.S. House and Senate. The state elections in 1837 and 1838 were also disastrous for the Democrats, and the partial economic recovery in 1838 was offset by a second commercial crisis later that year.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: To address the crisis, the Whigs proposed rechartering the national bank. The president countered by proposing the establishment of an independent U.S. treasury, which he contended would take the politics out of the nation's money supply. Under the plan, the government would hold its money in gold or silver, and would be restricted from printing paper money at will; both measures were designed to prevent inflation. The plan would permanently separate the government from private banks by storing government funds in government vaults rather than in private banks. Van Buren announced his proposal in September 1837, but an alliance of conservative Democrats and Whigs prevented it from becoming law until 1840. As the debate continued, conservative Democrats like Rives defected to the Whig Party, which itself grew more unified in its opposition to Van Buren. The Whigs would abolish the Independent Treasury system in 1841, but it was revived in 1846, and remained in place until the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. More important for Van Buren's immediate future, the depression would be a major issue in his upcoming re-election campaign.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Federal policy under Jackson had sought to move Indian tribes to lands west of the Mississippi River through the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and the federal government negotiated 19 treaties with Indian tribes during Van Buren's presidency. The 1835 Treaty of New Echota signed by government officials and representatives of the Cherokee tribe had established terms under which the Cherokees ceded their territory in the southeast and agreed to move west to Oklahoma. In 1838, Van Buren directed General Winfield Scott to forcibly move all those who had not yet complied with the treaty.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: The Cherokees were herded violently into internment camps where they were kept for the summer of 1838. The actual transportation west was delayed by intense heat and drought, but in the fall, the Cherokee reluctantly agreed to transport themselves west. Some 20,000 people were relocated against their will during the Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears. Notably, Ralph Waldo Emerson, who would go on to become America's foremost man of letters, wrote Van Buren a letter protesting his treatment of the Cherokee.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: The administration also contended with the Seminole Indians, who engaged the army in a prolonged conflict known as the Second Seminole War. Before he left office, Jackson put General Thomas Jesup in command of all military troops in Florida to force Seminole emigration to the West. Forts were established throughout the Indian territory, and mobile columns of soldiers scoured the countryside, and many Seminoles offered to surrender, including Chief Micanopy. The Seminoles slowly gathered for emigration near Tampa, but in June they fled the detention camps, driven off by disease and the presence of slave catchers hoping to capture Black Seminoles.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: In December 1837, Jesup began a massive offensive, culminating in the Battle of Lake Okeechobee, and the war entered a new phase of attrition. During this time, the government realized that it would be almost impossible to drive the remaining Seminoles from Florida, so Van Buren sent General Alexander Macomb to negotiate peace with them. It was the only time that an Indian tribe had forced the government to sue for peace. An agreement was reached allowing the Seminoles to remain in southwest Florida, but the peace was shattered in July 1839 and was not restored until 1842, after Van Buren had left office.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Just before leaving office in March 1837, Andrew Jackson extended diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Texas, which had won independence from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. By suggesting the prospect of quick annexation, Jackson raised the danger of war with Mexico and heightened sectional tensions at home. New England abolitionists charged that there was a "slaveholding conspiracy to acquire Texas", and Daniel Webster eloquently denounced annexation. Many Southern leaders, meanwhile, strongly desired the expansion of slave-holding territory in the United States.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Boldly reversing Jackson's policies, Van Buren sought peace abroad and harmony at home. He proposed a diplomatic solution to a long-standing financial dispute between American citizens and the Mexican government, rejecting Jackson's threat to settle it by force. Likewise, when the Texas minister at Washington, D.C., proposed annexation to the administration in August 1837, he was told that the proposition could not be entertained. Constitutional scruples and fear of war with Mexico were the reasons given for the rejection, but concern that it would precipitate a clash over the extension of slavery undoubtedly influenced Van Buren and continued to be the chief obstacle to annexation. Northern and Southern Democrats followed an unspoken rule: Northerners helped quash anti-slavery proposals and Southerners refrained from agitating for the annexation of Texas. Texas withdrew the annexation offer in 1838.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: British subjects in Lower Canada (now Quebec) and Upper Canada (now Ontario) rose in rebellion in 1837 and 1838, protesting their lack of responsible government. While the initial insurrection in Upper Canada ended quickly (following the December 1837 Battle of Montgomery's Tavern), many of the rebels fled across the Niagara River into New York, and Upper Canadian rebel leader William Lyon Mackenzie began recruiting volunteers in Buffalo. Mackenzie declared the establishment of the Republic of Canada and put into motion a plan whereby volunteers would invade Upper Canada from Navy Island on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. Several hundred volunteers traveled to Navy Island in the weeks that followed. They procured the steamboat "Caroline" to deliver supplies to Navy Island from Fort Schlosser. Seeking to deter an imminent invasion, British forces crossed to the American bank of the river in late December 1837, and they burned and sank the "Caroline". In the melee, one American was killed and others were wounded.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Considerable sentiment arose within the United States to declare war, and a British ship was burned in revenge. Van Buren, looking to avoid a war with Great Britain, sent General Winfield Scott to the Canada–United States border with large discretionary powers for its protection and its peace. Scott impressed upon American citizens the need for a peaceful resolution to the crisis, and made it clear that the U.S. government would not support adventuresome Americans attacking the British. Also, in early January 1838, the president proclaimed U.S. neutrality in the Canadian independence issue, a declaration which Congress endorsed by passing a neutrality law designed to discourage the participation of American citizens in foreign conflicts.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: During the Canadian rebellions, Charles Duncombe and Robert Nelson helped foment a largely American militia, the Hunters' Lodge, modeled on their Lower Canadian namesake Frères chasseurs. This militia carried out several attacks in Upper Canada between December 1837 and December 1838, collectively known as the Patriot War. The administration followed through on its enforcement of the Neutrality Act, encouraged the prosecution of filibusters, and actively deterred U.S. citizens from subversive activities abroad. In the long term, Van Buren's opposition to the Patriot War contributed to the construction of healthy Anglo-American and Canada–United States relations in the 20th century; it also led, more immediately, to a backlash among citizens regarding the seeming overreach of federal authority, which hurt congressional Democrats in the 1838 midterm elections.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: A new crisis surfaced in late 1838, in the disputed territory on the Maine–New Brunswick frontier, where Americans were settling on long-disputed land claimed by the United States and Great Britain. Jackson had been willing to drop American claims to the region in return for other concessions, but Maine was unwilling to drop its claims to the disputed territory. The British considered possession of the area vital to the defense of Canada. Both American and New Brunswick lumberjacks cut timber in the disputed territory during the winter of 1838–1839. On December 29, New Brunswick lumbermen were spotted cutting down trees on an American estate near the Aroostook River.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: After American woodcutters rushed to stand guard, a shouting match, known as the Battle of Caribou, ensued. Tensions quickly boiled over into a near war with both Maine and New Brunswick arresting each other's citizens. The crisis seemed ready to turn into an armed conflict. British troops began to gather along the Saint John River. Governor John Fairfield mobilized the state militia to confront the British in the disputed territory and several forts were constructed. The American press clamored for war; "Maine and her soil, or BLOOD!" screamed one editorial. "Let the sword be drawn and the scabbard thrown away!" In June, Congress authorized 50,000 troops and a $10 million budget in the event foreign military troops crossed into United States territory.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren was unwilling to go to war over the disputed territory, though he assured Maine that he would respond to any attacks by the British. To settle the crisis, Van Buren met with the British minister to the United States, and Van Buren and the minister agreed to resolve the border issue diplomatically. Van Buren also sent General Scott to the northern border area, both to show military resolve, and more importantly, to lower the tensions. Scott successfully convinced all sides to submit the border issue to arbitration. The border dispute was put to rest a few years later, with the signing of the 1842 Webster–Ashburton Treaty.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: The "Amistad" case was a freedom suit that involved international issues and parties, as well as United States law, resulting from the rebellion of Africans on board the Spanish schooner "La Amistad" in 1839. Van Buren viewed abolitionism as the greatest threat to the nation's unity, and he resisted the slightest interference with slavery in the states where it existed. His administration supported the Spanish government's demand that the ship and its cargo (including the Africans) be turned over to them. A federal district court judge ruled that the Africans were legally free and should be transported home, but Van Buren's administration appealed the case to the Supreme Court.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: In February 1840, former president John Quincy Adams argued passionately for the Africans' right to freedom, and Attorney General Henry D. Gilpin presented the government's case. In March 1841, the Supreme Court issued its final verdict: the "Amistad" Africans were free people and should be allowed to return home. The unique nature of the case heightened public interest in the saga, including the participation of former president Adams, Africans testifying in federal court, and their representation by prominent lawyers. The "Amistad" case drew attention to the personal tragedies of slavery and attracted new support for the growing abolition movement in the North. It also transformed the courts into the principal forum for a national debate on the legal foundations of slavery.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren appointed two Associate Justices to the Supreme Court: John McKinley, confirmed September 25, 1837, and Peter Vivian Daniel, confirmed March 2, 1841. He also appointed eight other federal judges, all to United States district courts.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: For the first half of his presidency, Van Buren, who had been a widower for many years, did not have a specific person to act as White House hostess at administration social events, but tried to assume such duties himself. When his eldest son Abraham Van Buren married Angelica Singleton in 1838, he quickly acted to install his daughter-in-law as his hostess. She solicited the advice of her distant relative, Dolley Madison, who had moved back to Washington after her husband's death, and soon the president's parties livened up. After the 1839 New Year's Eve reception, "The Boston Post" raved: "[Angelica Van Buren is a] lady of rare accomplishments, very modest yet perfectly easy and graceful in her manners and free and vivacious in her conversation ... universally admired."


title: Martin Van Buren

text: As the nation endured a deep economic depression, Angelica Van Buren's receiving style at receptions was influenced by her heavy reading about European court life (and her naive delight in being received as the "Queen of the United States" when she visited the royal courts of England and France after her marriage). Newspaper coverage of this, and the claim that she intended to re-landscape the White House grounds to resemble the royal gardens of Europe, was used in a political attack on her father-in-law by a Pennsylvania Whig Congressman Charles Ogle. He referred obliquely to her as part of the presidential "household" in his famous Gold Spoon Oration. The attack was delivered in Congress and the depiction of the president as living a royal lifestyle was a primary factor in his defeat for re-election.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren easily won renomination for a second term at the 1840 Democratic National Convention, but he and his party faced a difficult election in 1840. Van Buren's presidency had been a difficult affair, with the U.S. economy mired in a severe downturn, and other divisive issues, such as slavery, western expansion, and tensions with Great Britain, providing opportunities for Van Buren's political opponents—including some of his fellow Democrats—to criticize his actions. Although Van Buren's renomination was never in doubt, Democratic strategists began to question the wisdom of keeping Johnson on the ticket. Even former president Jackson conceded that Johnson was a liability and insisted on former House Speaker James K. Polk of Tennessee as Van Buren's new running mate. Van Buren was reluctant to drop Johnson, who was popular with workers and radicals in the North and added military experience to the ticket, which might prove important against likely Whig nominee William Henry Harrison. Rather than re-nominating Johnson, the Democratic convention decided to allow state Democratic Party leaders to select the vice-presidential candidates for their states.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren hoped that the Whigs would nominate Clay for president, which would allow Van Buren to cast the 1840 campaign as a clash between Van Buren's Independent Treasury system and Clay's support for a national bank. However, rather than nominating longtime party spokesmen like Clay and Daniel Webster, the 1839 Whig National Convention nominated Harrison, who had served in various governmental positions during his career and had earned fame for his military leadership in the Battle of Tippecanoe and the War of 1812. Whig leaders like William Seward and Thaddeus Stevens believed that Harrison's war record would effectively counter the popular appeals of the Democratic Party. For vice president, the Whigs nominated former Senator John Tyler of Virginia. Clay was deeply disappointed by his defeat at the convention, but he nonetheless threw his support behind Harrison.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Whigs presented Harrison as the antithesis of the president, whom they derided as ineffective, corrupt, and effete. Whigs also depicted Van Buren as an aristocrat living in high style in the White House, while they used images of Harrison in a log cabin sipping cider to convince voters that he was a man of the people. They threw such jabs as "Van, Van, is a used-up man" and "Martin Van Ruin" and ridiculed him in newspapers and cartoons. Issues of policy were not absent from the campaign; the Whigs derided the alleged executive overreaches of Jackson and Van Buren, while also calling for a national bank and higher tariffs. Democrats attempted to campaign on the Independent Treasury system, but the onset of deflation undercut these arguments. The enthusiasm for "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too", coupled with the country's severe economic crisis, made it impossible for Van Buren to win a second term. Harrison won by a popular vote of 1,275,612 to 1,130,033, and an electoral vote margin of 234 to 60. An astonishing 80% of eligible voters went to the polls on election day. Van Buren actually won more votes than he had in 1836, but the Whig success in attracting new voters more than canceled out Democratic gains. Additionally, Whigs won majorities for the first time in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: On the expiration of his term, Van Buren returned to his estate of Lindenwald in Kinderhook. He continued to closely watch political developments, including the battle between the Whig alliance of the Great Triumvirate and President John Tyler, who took office after Harrison's death in April 1841. Though undecided on another presidential run, Van Buren made several moves calculated to maintain his support, including a trip to the Southern United States and the Western United States during which he met with Jackson, former Speaker of the House James K. Polk, and others. President Tyler, James Buchanan, Levi Woodbury, and others loomed as potential challengers for the 1844 Democratic nomination, but it was Calhoun who posed the most formidable obstacle.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren remained silent on major public issues like the debate over the Tariff of 1842, hoping to arrange for the appearance of a draft movement for his presidential candidacy. Tyler made the annexation of Texas his chief foreign policy goal, and many Democrats, particularly in the South, were anxious to quickly complete it. After an explosion on the killed Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur in February 1844, Tyler brought Calhoun into his cabinet to direct foreign affairs. Like Tyler, Calhoun pursued the annexation of Texas to upend the presidential race and to extend slavery into new territories.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Shortly after taking office, Calhoun negotiated an annexation treaty between the United States and Texas. Van Buren had hoped he would not have to take a public stand on annexation, but as the Texas question came to dominate U.S. politics, he decided to make his views on the issue public. Though he believed that his public acceptance of annexation would likely help him win the 1844 Democratic nomination, Van Buren thought that annexation would inevitably lead to an unjust war with Mexico. In a public letter published shortly after Henry Clay also announced his opposition to the annexation treaty, Van Buren articulated his views on the Texas question.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren's opposition to immediate annexation cost him the support of many pro-slavery Democrats. In the weeks before the 1844 Democratic National Convention, Van Buren's supporters anticipated that he would win a majority of the delegates on the first presidential ballot, but would not be able to win the support of the required two-thirds of delegates. Van Buren's supporters attempted to prevent the adoption of the two-thirds rule, but several Northern delegates joined with Southern delegates in implementing the two-thirds rule for the 1844 convention. Van Buren won 146 of the 266 votes on the first presidential ballot, with only 12 of his votes coming from Southern states.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Senator Lewis Cass won much of the remaining vote, and he gradually picked up support on subsequent ballots until the convention adjourned for the day. When the convention reconvened and held another ballot, James K. Polk, who shared many of Van Buren's views but favored immediate annexation, won 44 votes. On the ninth ballot, Van Buren's supporters withdrew his name from consideration, and Polk won the nomination. Although angered that his opponents had denied him the nomination, Van Buren endorsed Polk in the interest of party unity. He also convinced Silas Wright to run for Governor of New York so that the popular Wright could help boost Polk in the state. Wright narrowly defeated Whig nominee Millard Fillmore in the 1844 gubernatorial election, and Wright's victory in the state helped Polk narrowly defeat Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: After taking office, Polk used George Bancroft as an intermediary to offer Van Buren the ambassadorship to London. Van Buren declined, partly because he was upset with Polk over the treatment the Van Buren delegates had received at the 1844 convention, and partly because he was content in his retirement. Polk also consulted Van Buren in the formation of his cabinet, but offended Van Buren by offering to appoint a New Yorker only to the lesser post of Secretary of War, rather than as Secretary of State or Secretary of the Treasury. Other patronage decisions also angered Van Buren and Wright, and they became permanently alienated from the Polk administration.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Though he had previously helped maintain a balance between the Barnburners and Hunkers, the two factions of the New York Democratic Party, Van Buren moved closer to the Barnburners after the 1844 Democratic National Convention. The split in the state party worsened during Polk's presidency, as his administration lavished patronage on the Hunkers. In his retirement, Van Buren also grew increasingly opposed to slavery.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: As the Mexican–American War brought the debate over slavery in the territories to the forefront of American politics, Van Buren published an anti-slavery manifesto. In it, he refuted the notion that Congress did not have the power to regulate slavery in the territories, and argued the Founding Fathers had favored the eventual abolition of slavery. The document, which became known as the "Barnburner Manifesto," was edited at Van Buren's request by John Van Buren and Samuel Tilden, both of whom were leaders of the Barnburner faction. After the publication of the Barnburner Manifesto, many Barnburners urged the former president to seek his old office in the 1848 presidential election. The 1848 Democratic National Convention seated competing Barnburner and Hunker delegations from New York, but the Barnburners walked out of the convention when Lewis Cass, who opposed congressional regulation of slavery in the territories, was nominated on the fourth ballot.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: In response to the nomination of Cass, the Barnburners began to organize as a third party. At a convention held in June 1848, in Utica, New York, the Barnburners nominated Van Buren for president. Though reluctant to bolt from the Democratic Party, Van Buren accepted the nomination to show the power of the anti-slavery movement, help defeat Cass, and weaken the Hunkers. At a convention held in Buffalo, New York in August 1848, a group of anti-slavery Democrats, Whigs, and members of the abolitionist Liberty Party met in the first national convention of what became known as the Free Soil Party.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: The convention unanimously nominated Van Buren, and chose Charles Francis Adams as Van Buren's running mate. In a public message accepting the nomination, Van Buren gave his full support for the Wilmot Proviso, a proposed law that would ban slavery in all territories acquired from Mexico in the Mexican–American War. Anti-slavery Whig orator Daniel Webster, in his "Marshfield Speech," expressed skepticism, in terms that may have influenced Whig voters, about the sincerity of Van Buren's espousal of the anti-slavery cause:


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren won no electoral votes, but finished second to Whig nominee Zachary Taylor in New York, taking enough votes from Cass to give the state—and perhaps the election—to Taylor. Nationwide, Van Buren won 10.1% of the popular vote, the strongest showing by a third-party presidential nominee up to that point in U.S. history.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren never sought public office again after the 1848 election, but he continued to closely follow national politics. He was deeply troubled by the stirrings of secessionism in the South and welcomed the Compromise of 1850 as a necessary conciliatory measure despite his opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Van Buren also worked on a history of American political parties and embarked on a tour of Europe, becoming the first former American head of state to visit Britain. Though still concerned about slavery, Van Buren and his followers returned to the Democratic fold, partly out of the fear that a continuing Democratic split would help the Whig Party. He also attempted to reconcile the Barnburners and the Hunkers, with mixed results.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren supported Franklin Pierce for president in 1852, James Buchanan in 1856, and Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. Van Buren viewed the fledgling Know Nothing movement with contempt and felt that the anti-slavery Republican Party exacerbated sectional tensions. He considered Chief Justice Roger Taney's ruling in the 1857 case of "Dred Scott v. Sandford" to be a "grievous mistake" since it overturned the Missouri Compromise. He believed that the Buchanan administration handled the issue of Bleeding Kansas poorly, and saw the Lecompton Constitution as a sop to Southern extremists.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: After the election of Abraham Lincoln and the secession of several Southern states in 1860, Van Buren unsuccessfully sought to call a constitutional convention. In April 1861, former president Pierce wrote to the other living former presidents and asked them to consider meeting to use their stature and influence to propose a negotiated end to the war. Pierce asked Van Buren to use his role as the senior living ex-president to issue a formal call. Van Buren's reply suggested that Buchanan should be the one to call the meeting, since he was the former president who had served most recently, or that Pierce should issue the call himself if he strongly believed in the merit of his proposal. Neither Buchanan nor Pierce was willing to make Pierce's proposal public, and nothing more resulted from it. Once the American Civil War began, Van Buren made public his support for the Union.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren's health began to fail later in 1861, and he was bedridden with pneumonia during the fall and winter of 1861–1862. He died of bronchial asthma and heart failure at his Lindenwald estate at 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 24, 1862. He was 79 years old. He is buried in the Kinderhook Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery, as are his wife Hannah, his parents, and his son Martin Van Buren Jr.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren outlived all four of his immediate successors: Harrison, Tyler, Polk, and Taylor. In addition, he saw more successors ascend to the presidency than anyone else (eight), living to see Abraham Lincoln elected as the 16th President before his death.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren's most lasting achievement was as a political organizer who built the Democratic Party and guided it to dominance in the Second Party System, and historians have come to regard Van Buren as integral to the development of the American political system. According to historian Robert V. Remini:


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren's creative contribution to the political development of the nation was enormous, and as such he earned his way to the presidency. After gaining control of New York's Republican Party he organized the Albany Regency to run the state in his absence while he pursued a national career in Washington. The Regency was a governing consul in Albany consisting of a group of politically astute and highly intelligent men. He was one of the first statewide political machines in the country was success resulted from its professional use of patronage, the legislative caucus, and the official party newspaper...[In Washington] he labored to bring about the reorganization of the Republican Party through an alliance between what he called "the planters of the South and the plain Republicans of the North."... [His Democratic] emphasized the importance of building popular majorities and it perfected political techniques which would appeal to the masses...Heretofore parties were regarded as evils to be tolerated; Van Buren argued that the party system was the most sensible and intelligent way the affairs of the nation could be democratically conducted, a viewpoint that eventually won national approval.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: However, his presidency is considered to be average, at best, by historians. He was blamed for the Panic of 1837 and defeated for reelection. His tenure was dominated by the economic conditions caused by the panic, and historians have split on the adequacy of the Independent Treasury as a response. Some historians disagree with these negative assessments. For example, Ivan Eland in his book "Recarving Rushmore", ranked Van Buren as the third greatest president in American history. He argues that Van Buren allowed the market to readjust fairly quickly after the Panic of 1837, reduced government spending, balanced the budget, and avoided potential wars with Canada and Mexico. Historian Jeffrey Rogers Hummel states that Van Buren was America's greatest president, arguing that "historians have grossly underrated his many remarkable accomplishments in the face of heavy odds".


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Several writers have portrayed Van Buren as among the nation's most obscure presidents. As noted in a 2014 "Time" magazine article on the "Top 10 Forgettable Presidents":


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren's home in Kinderhook, New York, which he called Lindenwald, is now the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. Counties are named for Van Buren in Michigan, Iowa, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Mount Van Buren, , three state parks and numerous towns were named after him.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: In the Gore Vidal novel "Burr", a major plot theme is an attempt to prevent Van Buren's election as president by proving he is the illegitimate son of Aaron Burr.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: During the 1988 presidential campaign, George H. W. Bush, a Yale University graduate and member of the Skull and Bones secret society, was attempting to become the first incumbent vice president to win election to the presidency since Van Buren. In the comic strip "Doonesbury", artist Garry Trudeau depicted members of Skull and Bones as attempting to rob Van Buren's grave, apparently intending to use the relics in a ritual that would aid Bush in the election.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Martin Van Buren appeared in the Presidential dollar coins series in 2008. The U.S. Mint has also made commemorative silver medals for Van Buren, released for sale on February 1, 2021.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: Van Buren is portrayed by Nigel Hawthorne in the 1997 film "Amistad". The film depicts the legal battle surrounding the status of slaves who in 1839 rebelled against their transporters on "La Amistad" slave ship.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: On the television show "Seinfeld", the episode "The Van Buren Boys" is about a fictional street gang that admires Van Buren and bases its rituals and symbols on him, including the hand sign of eight fingers pointing up.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: In an episode of "The Monkees", "Dance, Monkee, Dance", a dance instruction studio offers free lessons to anyone who can answer the question, "Who was the eighth President of the United States?" Martin Van Buren, portrayed by Stephen Coit, appears at the studio to claim the prize.


title: Martin Van Buren

text: At least two bands have incorporated Van Buren as part of their name: the Illinois-based The Van Buren Boys and The Van Burens from Quincy, Massachusetts.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received critical acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably "Joint Security Area" (2000); "A Bittersweet Life" (2005); "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" (2008); the television series "Iris" (2009); "I Saw the Devil" (2010); "Masquerade" (2012); and "Mr. Sunshine" (2018). His critically acclaimed film "Inside Men" (2015) won him the Best Actor prize in three prestigious award ceremonies: 52nd Baeksang Art Awards, 37th Blue Dragon Awards and 53rd Grand Bell Awards. Lee has five films—"Joint Security Area", "The Good, the Bad, the Weird", "Masquerade", "Inside Men" and "Master"—on the list of highest-grossing films in South Korea. Lee was Gallup Korea's Actor of the Year in the Film division in 2012 and in the Television division in 2018. In 2021, he appeared in a recurring role as the Front Man in the Netflix survival drama series "Squid Game".


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In the United States, he is known for portraying Storm Shadow in "" (2009) and its sequel "" (2013), and starring alongside Bruce Willis in "Red 2" (2013). He portrayed T-1000 in "Terminator Genisys" (2015), Billy Rocks, a knife-wielding gunslinger, in "The Magnificent Seven" (2016), and the Front Man in "Squid Game" (2021). Lee was the first South Korean actor to present an Oscar at the annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Lee and Ahn Sung-ki were the first South Korean actors to imprint their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee's career began in 1991 after a KBS talent audition and making his debut in the television drama "Asphalt My Hometown". Lee drew attention with the action drama "Asphalt Man" and romantic film "The Harmonium in My Memory", but it was only in 2000 that he made his big breakthrough with Park Chan-wook's "Joint Security Area". The film broke the box office record and became the highest grossing Korean film at the time. Lee's role as a border-guard soldier won him the Best Actor award at the Busan Film Critics Awards.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2001, his popularity continued to climb when he starred in melodramas "Beautiful Days" and "Bungee Jumping of Their Own". In 2003, he received the Grand Prize at the SBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards for his role in the poker drama "All In". Due to his film and television roles, Lee experienced a rise in popularity across Asia, particularly Japan.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: From 2005, he focused on film, earning critical acclaim for his performance in "A Bittersweet Life" directed by Kim Jee-woon, which was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Lee was nominated for Best Actor at the Blue Dragon Film Awards and Grand Bell Awards, and won at the Chunsa Film Art Awards, Baeksang Arts Awards and the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: He reunited with director Kim Jee-woon in the "kimchi western" "The Good, the Bad, the Weird", taking on his first villain role. The film was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Lee's eye-catching performance in the film led to increased global recognition for him. This led to Lee's debut in Hollywood, where he played Storm Shadow in "", also starring Channing Tatum and Sienna Miller.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Back in Korea, he appeared in "I Come with the Rain" opposite American actor Josh Hartnett and Japanese actor Takuya Kimura.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee returned to television in late 2009 in the espionage action thriller "Iris" as a secret agent who finds himself at the center of an international conspiracy. He reportedly received over 100 million won per episode for his role, the third highest in the country's drama history. "Iris" was one of the most expensive shows ever produced, and was a smash hit across Asia. Lee's performance earned him the Grand Prize at the KBS Drama Awards and Best Actor at the Baeksang Arts Awards.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2010, Lee starred in "I Saw the Devil" with Choi Min-sik, his third collaboration with Kim Jee-woon, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. His portrayal of the intelligence agent won him the Grand Prize at the Baeksang Arts Awards.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee received acclaim for his portrayal of dual roles in the lavish period drama "Masquerade". The film was a box office hit, becoming the 7th film in Korean history to surpass 10 million admissions. Lee won Best Actor at the Grand Bell Awards for his performance. On June 23, 2012, Lee, along with Ahn Sung-ki, became the first Korean actors to leave their hand and foot prints on the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He was recognized as an emerging star in Hollywood for his role of Storm Shadow in "", and its sequel, "".


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2013, Lee reprised his role as Storm Shadow in "". He then co-starred in the American film "RED 2", the sequel to the 2010 action-comedy hit "RED", alongside Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Following his sex-chat scandal, Lee returned with the martial arts film "Memories of the Sword" in 2015. The film was shot in late 2013 and scheduled for release in 2014, but was postponed due to Lee's scandal. He received praise for his scene-stealing role as a young and ambitious warrior with a lowly status, but the film failed to do well and was criticized for its messy plot. The same year, Lee played a T-1000 in "Terminator Genisys" opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. He then starred in Woo Min-ho's political crime thriller "Inside Men", which became the top grossing R-rated movie of all-time at the Korean Box Office. Touted as the "star" of the film, Lee received critical acclaim and swept Best Actor awards at various film awards ceremonies.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2016, Lee featured in the American crime thriller "Misconduct". On February 28, 2016, Lee attended the 88th Academy Awards and presented the "Best Foreign Language Film" award with actress Sofia Vergara. He was the first Korean actor to present an award at the Oscars. The same year, Lee co-starred as knife-wielding gunslinger Billy Rocks in "The Magnificent Seven" with Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Returning to Korea, Lee starred in the crime thriller "Master", followed by mystery drama "Single Rider".


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In March 2017, Lee signed on with major Hollywood agency United Talent Agency. He was cast in the Hollywood action film "Radiance". The film is directed by Patrick Lussier, who worked with Lee in "Terminator Genisys". Lee then starred in historical epic "The Fortress", and comedy-drama film "Keys to the Heart".


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2018, Lee made his television comeback in "Mr. Sunshine", a historical war drama written by Kim Eun-sook. The series was a commercial and critical success, and Lee won the Grand Prize at the 6th APAN Star Awards.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2019, Lee starred in the action film "Ashfall". In 2020, Lee starred in the political drama "The Man Standing Next". Both films were box office successes, and proved Lee's brand power as a lead actor.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In September 2021, he appeared on Netflix's survival drama "Squid Game" as the Front Man. In the 15th Asian Film Awards, he was awarded with Asian Film Excellence Award. He is the first Korean actor to be selected for the award, which is given for outstanding achievements in Asian cinema and culture.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2022, Lee starred in the tvN television series "Our Blues" written by Noh Hee-kyung. He will also appear Um Tae-hwa's disaster thriller film "Concrete Utopia" alongside Park Bo-young and Park Seo-joon.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee formed a management company, BH Entertainment, which manages many actors including Han Hyo-joo, Go Soo, Jin Goo, Jinyoung and Han Ji-min. He owns a shop, BHNC, which sells hats, scarves and wallets.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee Byung-hun is noted in the video game industry for providing his likeness for the main character, Wayne Holden, in the 2006 game "", for the Xbox 360, PS3 & PC.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In 2013, Lee was selected as an honorary ambassador for that year’s annual meeting of the Association of Film Commissioners International, a group dedicated to helping facilitate international coproductions. The same year, he was appointed honorary ambassador to promote the 50th Daejong Film Awards.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In March 2011, Lee donated 700 million won to the Korean Red Cross to help local residents affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In November 2016, Lee made a voice donation to Green Umbrella Children's Foundation for 'Haru', a campaign to support sick children.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In April 2019, Lee and his wife Lee Min-jung donated 100 million to victims of forest fires in Gangwon-do.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: In February 2020, Lee donated 100 million won through the Fruit of Love of the Community Chest of Korea and his donation was used to provide sanitary products to vulnerable groups. In October 2020, Lee made voice donation to multi-media type Braille sensory book by The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage.On December 30, 2020, Lee donated 100 million won to the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation to help children from low-income families who are having difficulties in life due to COVID-19.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: On July 12, 2021, Lee donated 100 million won to Asan Children's Hospital in Seoul on the occasion of his birthday.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: On March 6, 2022, Lee donated 100 million won to Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help residents affected by the Uljin and Samcheok wildfires and his donation is said to be quickly used to provide temporary shelter for the victims who are evacuating from their homes.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea. He has a younger sister, Lee Eun-hee, who won the Miss Congeniality portion of Miss Korea in 1996. He graduated from Hanyang University with a major in French Literature and the Graduate School of Chung-Ang University with a major in Theater and Cinematography. In his spare time, Lee Byung-hun practices taekwondo.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee was previously romantically linked with fellow "All In" lead Song Hye-kyo beginning in the early-2000s. The relationship, though kept completely low-key and rarely publicized, lasted fifteen months before they split in mid-June 2004. Lee married actress Lee Min-jung on August 10, 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. The couple had briefly dated in 2006, then resumed their relationship in 2012. Lee's wife gave birth to their first child, a son, Lee Joon-hoo, on March 31, 2015. After he had to clear some debts following his father's death, Lee fell into a depression. He then started to suffer panic disorders, and found it difficult to attend award ceremonies. Lee credits his wife with helping him overcome his mental health challenges.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: On December 9, 2009, Lee’s ex-girlfriend Kwon Mi-yeon filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was tricked into having a sexual relationship with the star based on the promise of marriage. She claimed Lee caused her mental anguish and physical damage along with claims that Lee is a chronic gambler and sued for 100 million won. Lee’s agency, BH Entertainment, countered that her claims were all false and that the lawsuit was retaliatory in nature due to the breakup. Lee countersued Kwon for defamation and extortion.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, TV show host Kang Byung-kyu appeared on the set of the TV drama Iris that Lee was working on at the time. He was accused of bringing in gangsters and causing a disturbance due to a conflict with a producer that he claimed spread rumors that Kang was behind the feud between Lee and Kwon. Due to this incident Kang was arrested on assault charges. Kang was also later indicted on charges of blackmail and defamation with prosecutors alleging that Kang and Kwon colluded to blackmail Lee for large sums of money in November of 2009 before Kwon went on to file her civil lawsuit in December after Lee refused to pay.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: Lee was cleared of the illegal gambling charges on March 19, 2010, with prosecutors citing no evidence. Kwon’s claim for damages was eventually dropped in August of 2010 due to her lack of participation in proceedings. Kang was eventually sentenced to one year in prison and three years probation in 2013 on his fraud and assault charges.


title: Lee Byung-hun

text: On August 28, 2014, Lee was blackmailed by singer Dahee from K-pop girl group GLAM and model Lee Ji-yeon for 5 billion won (about ) in exchange for not releasing, on the internet, a compromising video of him making sexual jokes while drinking with them on July 3. Dahee and Lee Ji-yeon were arrested on September 1, after Lee reported the crime to police when they handed him two suitcases to transport the money. It was later revealed that the crime was fully intentional and pre-planned, as both Dahee and Lee Ji-yeon looked for plane tickets to escape to Europe and purchased two suitcases to be used for transporting the money. Moreover, the two women attempted to film an additional video of Lee hugging Lee Ji-yeon by secretly placing a smartphone in a kitchen sink, but they failed to do so. However, Lee Ji-yeon claimed that the blackmailing was an impulsive act after Lee broke up with her, for which Lee Byung-hun's agency released an official statement stating that Lee had not once met her alone and that he mentioned to the two women that he wanted to stop meeting them when he sensed ulterior motives from them after talking about their financial difficulties, demanding he buy them a house. The final trial was held at the Seoul District Court on January 15, 2015, where Dahee was sentenced to a year in jail and Lee Ji-yeon to a year and two months. In February, following the sentencing, Lee requested a pardon for the women while the prosecution in charge felt that the sentence was too lenient. In March, both women, who were in jail for six months, received a suspended sentence for two years following Lee's pardon request. The K-pop girl group GLAM was disbanded following the sentencing of Dahee.


title: States of Germany

text: The Federal Republic of Germany, as a federal state, consists of sixteen partly sovereign federated states (, sing. ; commonly informally , sing. ). Since the German national state was formed from an earlier collection of several states (only some of which still exist), it has a federal constitution, and the constituent states retain a measure of sovereignty.


title: States of Germany

text: Although the term applies to all the states, each of the states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia describes itself as a ("free state"). The expression is based on 19th-century attempts to create a genuinely German alternative for the loanword ("republic") and to express the end of the German monarchies. With an emphasis on geographical conditions, Berlin and Hamburg are frequently called ("city-states"), as is the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, which in fact includes the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven. The remaining thirteen states are called (roughly "area states").


title: States of Germany

text: The creation of the Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") in 1949 was through the unification of the three western zones which were previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II. Initially, the states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (in German: ), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (), Lower Saxony (), North Rhine-Westphalia (), Rhineland-Palatinate (), Schleswig-Holstein, Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin, while still under occupation and supremacy of the Western Allies viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered as a "de facto" state. In 1952, following a referendum, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg. In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland.


title: States of Germany

text: The next change occurred in the aftermath of German reunification in 1990, in which the area of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) became part of the Federal Republic. This was performed by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (), Saxony (), Saxony-Anhalt (), and Thuringia () to the Federal Republic and by the de facto reunification of West and East Berlin into Berlin and its establishment as a full and equal state. A regional referendum in 1996, to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg as "Berlin-Brandenburg", failed to reach the necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners had voted in favour.


title: States of Germany

text: Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany. According to the German constitution, some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and the federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including "culture", which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level, the constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government".


title: States of Germany

text: It was the states that formed the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria, where the national "Bund" ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation.


title: States of Germany

text: The German use of the term "Länder" ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called "Staaten" ("states"). Today, it is very common to use the term "Bundesland" (federated "Land"). However, this term is not used officially in the constitution of 1919 nor in the current one. Three "Länder" call themselves "Freistaaten" ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of the Weimar Republic, six still exist (though partly with different borders):


title: States of Germany

text: The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities:


title: States of Germany

text: Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among the American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries. Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong "Länder" that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many "Länder" also make coordination among them and with the federation more complicated." But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception.


title: States of Germany

text: Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states, numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After the Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation. The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states.


title: States of Germany

text: Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the Napoleonic Wars to the Congress of Vienna, the number of territories decreased from about 300 to 39; in 1866 Prussia annexed the sovereign states of Hanover, Nassau, Hesse-Kassel, and the Free City of Frankfurt. Prussia and the other states in Northern and Central Germany united as a federal state, the North German Federation, on 1 July 1867. Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, those four states joined the North German Federation which was consequently renamed to German Empire. The parliament and Federal Council decided to give the Prussian king the title of German Emperor (since 1 January 1871). The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. Within the empire, 65% of the territory and 62% of the population belonged to the state of Prussia.


title: States of Germany

text: After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles, the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss, the father of the Weimar Constitution, drafted a plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: "Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory". In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in the configuration of the German states: The 7 Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria, Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favourable to state reforms.


title: States of Germany

text: After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the were gradually abolished and reduced to provinces under the Nazi regime via the process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi "Gau" system. Three changes are of particular note: on January 1, 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with the neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act () of 1937, the area of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein.


title: States of Germany

text: During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. New states were established in all four zones of occupation: Bremen, Hesse, Württemberg-Baden, and Bavaria in the American zone; Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia in the British zone; Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and the Saarland which later received a special status in the French zone; Mecklenburg(-Vorpommern), Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia in the Soviet zone. No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of the pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states.


title: States of Germany

text: Former German territory that lay east of the Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. The former provinces of Farther Pomerania, East Prussia, Silesia and Posen-West Prussia fell under Polish administration with the Soviet Union taking the area around Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. More than 8 million Germans had been expelled from these territories that had formed part of the German-speaking lands for centuries and which mostly did not have sizable Polish minorities before 1945. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories, as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time.


title: States of Germany

text: In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising the boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others.


title: States of Germany

text: As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29 of the Basic Law. There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory: the Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of a revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively".


title: States of Germany

text: In their letter to Konrad Adenauer, the three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force.


title: States of Germany

text: Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states (South Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Württemberg-Baden) merged to form Baden-Württemberg. From 1957, when the French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland, the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the "Old States" today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways "de facto" integrated with West Germany under a special status.


title: States of Germany

text: A new delimitation of the federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics (Werner Rutz, Meinhard Miegel, Adrian Ottnad, etc.) and politicians (Walter Döring, Hans Apel, and others) made proposals some of them far-reaching for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers.


title: States of Germany

text: In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into may be revised, without regard to the provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger (South Baden refused but was overruled, as the result of total votes was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg.


title: States of Germany

text: With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful:


title: States of Germany

text: The last petition was originally rejected by the Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect the wishes of the majority of Baden's population.


title: States of Germany

text: The two Palatine petitions (for a reintegration into Bavaria and integration into Baden-Württemberg) failed with 7.6% and 9.3%. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. The rejection was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in the case of Lübeck.


title: States of Germany

text: In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany.


title: States of Germany

text: On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when the Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland.


title: States of Germany

text: Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on the grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies.


title: States of Germany

text: The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and the referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1.


title: States of Germany

text: In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of the Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest.


title: States of Germany

text: In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in the northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B).


title: States of Germany

text: In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and the Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D).


title: States of Germany

text: At the same time, the commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary.


title: States of Germany

text: After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from the affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent.


title: States of Germany

text: The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden.


title: States of Germany

text: The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are the percentages of those eligible who voted in favour):


title: States of Germany

text: The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag however decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of the constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court.


title: States of Germany

text: On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first. The option for a referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it.


title: States of Germany

text: East Germany had originally consisted of five states (i.e., Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called "Bezirke". Soviet-controlled East Berlin – despite officially having the same status as West Berlin – was declared East Germany's capital and its 15th district.


title: States of Germany

text: The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification. While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as the five "New States" on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany.


title: States of Germany

text: After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that the West German constitution thus applied to the entire German people. Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and the 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union. Article 29 was again modified and provided an option for the states to "revise the division of their existing territory or parts of their territory by agreement without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (7)". Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to the provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". A state treaty between Berlin and Brandenburg was approved in both parliaments with the necessary two-thirds majority, but in a popular referendum of 5 May 1996, about 63% voted against the merger.


title: States of Germany

text: The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with the consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs.


title: States of Germany

text: Some states call themselves a "free state" (). It is merely a historic synonym for "republic" and was a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy after World War I. Today, is associated emotionally with a more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal significance. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the (Federal Council), where their voting power depends on the size of their population.


title: States of Germany

text: Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitutional document known as the "Grundgesetz" (Basic Law). By calling the document the "Grundgesetz", rather than "Verfassung" (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state.


title: States of Germany

text: Amendments to the "Grundgesetz" generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the "Grundgesetz" remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments.


title: States of Germany

text: The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to the principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a "Ministerpräsident" (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the "Landtag" (State Diet). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of the federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the minister-president is then chosen by a majority vote among the "Landtag"’s members. The minister-president is typically the head of the biggest party of a coalition. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of the state's government. Like in other parliamentary systems, the legislature can dismiss or replace the minister-president after a successful no-confidence vote.


title: States of Germany

text: The governments in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg are referred to as "senates". In the free states of Bavaria and Saxony, the government is referred to as "state government" "(Staatsregierung)"; and in the other states, the government is referred to as "Land government" "(Landesregierung)". Before January 1, 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected "Landtag", and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities, the executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the minister-president is the "Senatspräsident" (president of the senate), also commonly referred to as "Bürgermeister" (Mayor) in Bremen, the "Erster Bürgermeister" (first mayor) in Hamburg, and the "Regierender Bürgermeister" (governing mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the "Abgeordnetenhaus" (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a "Bürgerschaft". The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as "Landtag" (State Parliament).


title: States of Germany

text: The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into Districts. The City of Bremen consists of two urban districts: Bremen and Bremerhaven, which are not contiguous. In the other states there are the subdivisions below.


title: States of Germany

text: The most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is uniquely divided into two area associations ("Landschaftsverbände"), one for the Rhineland, and one for Westphalia-Lippe. This arrangement was meant to ease the friction caused by uniting the two culturally different regions into a single state after World War II. The "Landschaftsverbände" now have very little power.


title: States of Germany

text: The constitution of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at §75 states the right of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern to form "Landschaftsverbände", although these two constituent parts of the state are not represented in the current administrative division.


title: States of Germany

text: The large states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia are divided into governmental districts, or "Regierungsbezirke".


title: States of Germany

text: In Rhineland-Palatinate, these districts were abolished on January 1, 2000, in Saxony-Anhalt on January 1, 2004, and in Lower Saxony on January 1, 2005. From 1990 until 2012, Saxony was divided into three districts (called "Direktionsbezirke" since 2008). In 2012, these districts' authorities were merged into one central authority, the ".


title: States of Germany

text: The Districts of Germany "(Kreise)" are administrative districts, and every state except the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg and the state of Bremen consists of "rural districts" "(Landkreise)," District-free Towns/Cities ("Kreisfreie Städte", in Baden-Württemberg also called "urban districts", or "Stadtkreise"), cities that are districts in their own right, or local associations of a special kind "(Kommunalverbände besonderer Art)," see below. The state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen consists of two urban districts, while Berlin and Hamburg are states and urban districts at the same time.


title: States of Germany

text: As of 2011, there are 295 "Landkreise" and 107 "Kreisfreie Städte", making 402 districts altogether. Each consists of an elected council and an executive, which is chosen either by the council or by the people, depending on the state, the duties of which are comparable to those of a county executive in the United States, supervising local government administration. The "Landkreise" have primary administrative functions in specific areas, such as highways, hospitals, and public utilities.


title: States of Germany

text: Local associations of a special kind are an amalgamation of one or more "Landkreise" with one or more "Kreisfreie Städte" to form a replacement of the aforementioned administrative entities at the district level. They are intended to implement simplification of administration at that level. Typically, a district-free city or town and its urban hinterland are grouped into such an association, or "Kommunalverband besonderer Art". Such an organization requires the issuing of special laws by the governing state, since they are not covered by the normal administrative structure of the respective states.


title: States of Germany

text: Ämter ("offices" or "bureaus"): in some states, there is an administrative unit between the districts and the municipalities, called "Ämter" (singular "Amt"), "Amtsgemeinden", "Gemeindeverwaltungsverbände", "Landgemeinden", "Verbandsgemeinden", "Verwaltungsgemeinschaften", or "Kirchspiellandgemeinden".


title: States of Germany

text: Municipalities ("Gemeinden"): every rural district and every "Amt" is subdivided into municipalities, while every urban district is a municipality in its own right. There are () 12,141 municipalities, which are the smallest administrative units in Germany. Cities and towns are municipalities as well, also having city rights or town rights ("Stadtrechte"). Nowadays, this is mostly just the right to be called a city or town. However, in former times there were many other privileges, including the right to impose local taxes or to allow industry only within city limits.


title: States of Germany

text: The number of inhabitants of German municipalities differs greatly, the most populous municipality being Berlin with nearly 3.8 million inhabitants, while the least populous municipalities (for instance, Gröde in Nordfriesland) have less than 10 inhabitants.


title: States of Germany

text: The municipalities are ruled by elected councils and by an executive, the mayor, who is chosen either by the council or directly by the people, depending on the state. The "constitution" for the municipalities is created by the states and is uniform throughout a state (except for Bremen, which allows Bremerhaven to have its own constitution).


title: States of Germany

text: The municipalities have two major policy responsibilities. First, they administer programs authorized by the federal or state government. Such programs typically relate to youth, schools, public health, and social assistance. Second, Article 28(2) of the Basic Law guarantees the municipalities "the right to regulate on their own responsibility all the affairs of the local community within the limits set by law." Under this broad statement of competence, local governments can justify a wide range of activities. For instance, many municipalities develop and expand the economic infrastructure of their communities through the development of industrial trading estates.


title: States of Germany

text: Local authorities foster cultural activities by supporting local artists, building arts centres, and by holding fairs. Local government also provides public utilities, such as gas and electricity, as well as public transportation. The majority of the funding for municipalities is provided by higher levels of government rather than from taxes raised and collected directly by themselves.


title: States of Germany

text: In five of the German states, there are unincorporated areas, in many cases unpopulated forest and mountain areas, but also four Bavarian lakes that are not part of any municipality. As of January 1, 2005, there were 246 such areas, with a total area of 4167.66 km or 1.2% of the total area of Germany. Only four unincorporated areas are populated, with a total population of around 2,000. The table below provides an overview.


title: States of Germany

text: In 2000, the number of unincorporated areas was 295, with a total area of . However, the unincorporated areas are continually being incorporated into neighboring municipalities, wholly or partially, most frequently in Bavaria.


title: Laura Branigan

text: Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single "Gloria", stayed on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking at No. 2. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada. Branigan's "Gloria" was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi. In 1984, she reached number one in Canada and Germany with the U.S. No. 4 hit "Self Control", which was released by Italian singer and songwriter Raf the same year. Both "Gloria" and "Self Control" were successful in the United Kingdom, making the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.


title: Laura Branigan

text: Seeing her greatest level of success in the 1980s, Branigan's other singles included the Top 10 hit "Solitaire" (1983), the U.S. AC chart number one "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" (1983), the Australian No. 2 hit "Ti amo" (1984), her return to the top 40 "The Power of Love" (1987), and "Shattered Glass" (1987), which reached the top 15 of the U.S. dance chart. Her most successful album was 1984's platinum-selling "Self Control". She also contributed songs to motion picture and television soundtracks, including the Grammy and Academy Award-winning "Flashdance" soundtrack (1983), the "Ghostbusters" soundtrack (1984), and "Miami Vice" (1984). In 1985, she won the Tokyo Music Festival with the song "The Lucky One".


title: Laura Branigan

text: Her chart success began to wane as the decade closed and after her last two albums "Laura Branigan" (1990) and "Over My Heart" (1993) garnered little attention, she generally retired from public life for the rest of the 1990s. She returned to performing in the early 2000s, most notably appearing as Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical "Love, Janis". As she was recording new music and preparing a comeback to the music industry, she died at her home in August 2004 from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm.


title: Laura Branigan

text: Branigan and her music saw renewed popularity and public interest in 2019 in the US after "Gloria" was adopted by the NHL's St. Louis Blues as their unofficial victory song while they completed a historic mid-season turnaround to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, leading to the song entering ice hockey lore as an "unlikely championship anthem". Branigan's legacy manager and representative Kathy Golik embraced the trend and traveled to St. Louis to publicly represent Branigan among the Blues fanbase during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, later stating her belief that Branigan and "Gloria" "will forever be intertwined" with the Blues and the city of St. Louis.


title: Laura Branigan

text: Laura Ann Branigan was born on July 3, 1952, in Mount Kisco, New York, near New York City, the fourth of five children born to Irish-American parents Kathleen O'Hare Branigan and James Branigan Sr., an account executive and mutual funds broker; they later separated. Branigan's maternal grandparents were William O'Hare Jr. (son of William John O'Hare and Agnes B. O'Connor) and Mary Conway (daughter of Francis J. Conway and Mary Teresa McGuiness).


title: Laura Branigan

text: Branigan was raised in Armonk, New York, and as a child attended a Catholic school in nearby Chappaqua. She attended Byram Hills High School from 1966 to 1970, starring in the high school musical "The Pajama Game" in her senior year.


title: Laura Branigan

text: Between 1970 and 1972, Branigan attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and supported herself by working as a waitress.