Martin Van Buren served one term as President of the United States, occupying the White House from 1837 until his term ended in March of 1841. Most people today probably couldn't name a single thing he did during his time in office. He took office just after a financial collapse now called the Panic of 1837 and was ineffective at staving off the economic depression that followed. Slavery was one of the major issues of the day, but Van Buren effectively simply maintained the status quo, including not granting Texas statehood; he believed slavery to be immoral but legally permissible, and therefore, not really his problem, but not something he wanted to exacerbate. He followed Andrew Jackson in office and continued his predecessor's efforts to remove Native Americans from their homes, continuing the increasingly unpopular and bloody Second Seminole War in Florida. 

It's not a great resume, and it shouldn't be surprising that Van Buren wasn't re-elected in 1840. But he didn't give up. In 1844, he mounted a new campaign for the Presidency. His shift to a vocal anti-slavery posture doomed his chances of getting the Democratic nomination, but for some voters, more local issues were paramount. Specifically, Van Buren -- as President, and also as Vice President and Secretary of State before his time as the nation's chief executive -- was staunchly against federal investment in infrastructure. Or, in other words, he didn't think the federal government should be building roads in, say, Indiana.

Which is why this exists -- and, probably, why there's a school named after him nearby.

At the base of the tree was a large mud hole where pigs wallowed. There were two routes to get around it, but the carriage driver deliberately took the rough route knowing the elm's roots would overturn the carriage and send Van Buren flying into the mud. The plan was executed perfectly. The carriage tipped over, and Van Buren went into the muck, soiling his starched white clothes and filling his boots with thick mud.