Attorney and politician. John Van Buren, the son of President Martin Van Buren, graduated from Yale University in 1828, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. In 1831 his father was nominated to be Minister to England, and John accompanied him as attaché. John Van Buren served as New York Attorney General from 1845 to 1847. In the late 1840s he joined his father in opposing the spread of slavery as a member of the Free Soil Party. John Van Buren, nicknamed "Prince John" by the press, was a highly regarded trial lawyer, famed nationwide for his tall, commanding appearance and his eloquence. He was Chairman of the New York Democratic Party in 1862, and was the party's unsuccessful candidate for state Attorney General in 1865. During the Civil War he continued his opposition to slavery by organizing "Union League" clubs of Democrats and Republicans loyal to the United States. He was known to alternate between periods of overwork followed by periods of dissolution, including excessive drinking and gambling that often left him in financial distress. He died at sea of kidney failure while traveling from Liverpool to New York.