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Message:: [QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 2127869, member: 42773"]Thanks again for the valuable information, Bruce. My second new arrival is a diatribe against Martin Van Buren. "I follow in the footsteps of my illustrious predecessor" is supposedly taken from his inaugural speech of March 4, 1837, but I read the speech, and the legend is not a verbatim quote. He does refer to Jackson as his illustrious predecessor, but elsewhere he says, "...I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men," referring to the founders of the new republic. But I suppose exactitude was never a prerequisite for political diatribe. (How many people know that President Bush never actually spoke the words "Mission Accomplished?") At any rate, Van Buren's predecessor is once again portrayed as a jackass. After the mismanagement of federal funds by Jackson's pet state banks, Van Buren instigated the Sub-Treasury system. According to George R. French, writing in The Numismatist, "The tortoise and safe were used to exemplify the slow methods used in moving the deposits from the United States Bank to the state banks, or the proposed Sub-Treasuries." (Volume 27, p. 299) They may also be a commentary on the slow progress of the recovery, after the roaring economic boom of the 1820's and 30's, fueled by an excess of worthless paper money. Sound familiar? [ATTACH=full]404668[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]