Why Martin Van Buren Was In a “Seinfeld” Episode and 5 Other Things Nobody Knew About Our 8th President

How much do you know about President Martin Van Buren? Chances are, not much.

The eighth president of the United States, who served from 1837 - 1841, does not usually get Mount Rushmore-level attention. His four years in the White House were marked by a financial recession so severe that his enemies called him as “Martin Van Ruin.”

But a new biography, Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician, by James M. Bradley sheds new light on the obscure politician perhaps best remembered today for a running joke from a 1997 episode of Seinfeld.

“Van Buren was most responsible for making the mass party the primary form of political expression in America," says Bradley, also the deputy copy chief at PEOPLE. "He practically founded the Democratic Party, the oldest political party in the world. Everything we associate with parties and campaigns — conventions, platforms, and yes, propaganda — started under Martin Van Buren.”

Read on for a few things we may not have learned in history class about the man dubbed “the Little Magician” for his diminutive frame and wily political skills.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Contrary to what Kramer said on Seinfeld, Van Buren was not “mean”

In the 1997 episode "The Van Buren Boys," a fictional "street gang" that admires the eighth president uses the hand sign of eight fingers to signal its allegiance. After Kramer has a run-in with them at the pizza parlor, he tells Jerry who responds in disbelief: “There’s a street gang named after President Martin Van Buren?”

Says Kramer: “Oh yeah. And they’re just as mean as he was.” (Kramer gets out of the run-in by accidentally giving them the eight-finger sign—but only because he’s holding garlic powder with the other three fingers.) But in fact, Van Buren wasn’t mean. True, he was shrewd and often ruthless in pursuing political power, but he was always pleasant and affable to the public and to his colleagues. (Van Buren Boys T-shirts can be found on numerous websites.)

Related: Why Jerry Seinfeld Doesn't Believe He Could Make the Same Jokes on Seinfeld Today: 'P.C. Crap'

He was bald – and not happy about it

A strong follower of fads, Van Buren did what he could to restore his diminishing hairline. In researching the book, Bradley discovered receipts from a Washington druggist who sold Van Buren Oldridge’s Balm of Columbia, a product promising, through “the power of chemistry, the grand desideratum of preventing hair from falling off in FORTY EIGHT HOURS.”

The wildly popular product cost $1 a pint and made the manufacturer a bundle. But it didn’t reverse Van Buren’s hair loss. He did, however, make up for his growing forehead with prodigious muttonchops, earning him a comparison on Veep to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine character.

He’s still the only president not related to John, King of England in the 13th century

It’s a strange enough fact that just about all U.S. Presidents, genealogists now believe, descend from King John of England, who agreed to and sealed the Magna Carta in 1215.

But there’s one exception: Martin Van Buren — the only U.S. President of pure Dutch stock and with no ancestral connection to a British monarch.

Related: How Past Presidents Spent Their Time After Leaving the White House

He had a cheese problem in the White House

A tradition started under Thomas Jefferson in which cheese artisans sent their delicious handiwork to the president. With time, the cheese got bigger and bigger, with each monger trying to outdo the other. In 1837, right before Van Buren became President, a cheesemaker from western New York sent to the White House a block of cheese so enormous (1,400 lbs.!) that it had to be kept in the foyer for everyone to feast on.

When Van Buren moved into the White House, the smell of cheese was so overpowering that it worked its malodorous ways into the curtains and furniture, requiring weeks of cleaning and airing.

Related: PEOPLE’s Best Books of November 2024: Rebecca Yarros’ New Romance Novel and More

He popularized the term “OK”

In the “who knew” category, Martin Van Buren played a major part in making “OK” a worldwide phenomenon. He did not invent the acronym — linguists believe that it started in a satirical Boston newspaper piece in 1839 — but in the frenzied presidential campaign of 1840, his supporters used one of his nicknames (“Old Kinderhook” – Van Buren was born In Kinderhook, NY) in party newspapers, literature, and banners (“He’s OK,” “I’m With OK”), and it’s been part of our lexicon ever since.

Related: The 10 Longest-Living Presidents in U.S. History, from Jimmy Carter to Joe Biden

He liked the finer things in life — even in his bathroom!

A man of humble origins, Van Buren was unabashed about spending money on luxury items and clothes. In his grand mansion in upstate New York, he had indoor plumbing (a luxury in 1840s America), a bathtub made of malachite and a toilet bowl made of Wedgwood, a fine English porcelain. Visitors were known to poke fun at the extravagance on display in his estate. The Wedgwood toilet can still be found today at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in Kinderhook, New York.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer , from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

James M. Bradley’s Martin Van Buren: America’s First Politician is out now from Oxford University Press and available for purchase, wherever books are sold.

Read the original article on People