It was said that Calhoun’s actions had broken a minister but elected a vice president. Van Buren was viewed in some circles as a political martyr and President Andrew Jackson selected him as his vice president for his second term.
This political cartoon shows President Van Buren greeting Senator Henry Clay, a presidential hopeful critical of some of the president’s fiscal policies. Note the men in the background with long hair and beards. They are Clay supporters who vowed not to shave or cut their hair until Clay became president.