[4] "The Honey War" refers to a colorful episode in Van Buren County's history when the State of Missouri and Wisconsin Territory border came into dispute.

The sheriff of Van Buren County subsequently arrested and jailed the sheriff from Kahoka, Missouri, and Missourians were charged with "stealing honey from bee trees" in what is now Lacey-Keosauqua State Park.

Congress ruled "in favor of Iowa, allowing the original Sullivan line of 1816 to remain intact".

27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 33.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Van Buren County.

Aside from Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide victory in 1964, the margins of victory Democrats won the county by in this 40-year period were incredibly narrow, with the difference being less than one hundred votes when Jimmy Carter (being a mere 3 vote margin) & Bill Clinton won the county.

From 2000 on, the county has trended strongly Republican, particularly in 2016 where Hillary Clinton received the lowest percentage by a Democratic candidate in 60 years.

Clinton also failed to win even 1,000 votes, a feat which every major party candidate prior to 2016 had been able to accomplish in the county.