Editing Daniel Webster (section)

==Secretary of State in the Tyler administration==
{{Further|Presidency of John Tyler}}
[[File:MaineBoundaryDispute.jpg|thumb|Through the [[Webster–Ashburton Treaty]], Webster helped bring an end to a boundary dispute in Maine]]

Harrison extensively consulted Webster and Clay regarding presidential appointments, and the two Whig leaders competed to place their supporters and allies in key positions. Harrison initially hoped that Webster would serve as secretary of the treasury in order to spearhead his economic program, but Webster instead became [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]], giving him oversight of foreign affairs.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=511–515}} Just one month after taking office, Harrison died from [[pneumonia]], and was succeeded by John Tyler. Though Tyler and Webster strongly differed regarding ideology (Tyler was a devotee of states' rights) and personality, they initially enjoyed a strong working relationship, partly because each saw Clay as a rival for power in the Whig Party.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=521–524}} As Tyler, a former Democrat, had long been skeptical of the need for a national bank, Webster urged Whig congressmen to back a compromise bill put forward by Secretary of the Treasury [[Thomas Ewing]] which would have re-established the national bank but restricted its branching power. Congress rejected the compromise and instead passed Clay's bill, which was subsequently vetoed by Tyler. After Tyler vetoed another Whig bill, every Cabinet member except for Webster resigned, and a caucus of Whigs voted to expel Tyler from the party in September 1841. When Webster informed Tyler that he would not resign, Tyler responded, "give me your hand on that, and now I will say to you that Henry Clay is a doomed man."{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=524–531}}

Facing a hostile Congress, Tyler and Webster turned their attention to foreign policy.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=113, 145}} The administration put a new emphasis on American influence in the [[Pacific Ocean]], reaching the first U.S. treaty with [[China]], seeking to partition [[Oregon Country]] with Britain, and announcing that the United States would oppose any attempt to colonize the [[Hawaiian Islands]].{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=135–143}} The most pressing foreign policy issue involved [[United Kingdom–United States relations|relations with Britain]], as the United States had nearly gone to war with Britain over the [[Caroline affair]] and a [[Aroostook War|border conflict]] between Maine and [[Canada]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=518–519}} Seeking improved relations with the United States, British [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]] [[Robert Peel]] dispatched Lord Ashburton on a special mission to the United States.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=542–543}} After extensive negotiations, the United States and Britain reached the [[Webster–Ashburton Treaty]], which clearly delineated Maine's northern border and other sections of the U.S.–Canada border that had been in dispute.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=122–123, 128}} Senator [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]] led Senate opposition to the treaty, arguing that it "needlessly and shamelessly" relinquished American territory, but few others joined Benton in voting against the treaty, and it won ratification.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=129–130}}

After mid-1841, congressional Whigs continually pressured Webster to resign, and by early 1843, Tyler had also begun to pressure Webster to leave office.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=551, 583}} As Tyler moved even farther away from Whig positions and began preparing a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in the [[1844 U.S. presidential election]], Webster left office in May 1843.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=583–584}} With Webster gone, Tyler turned his attention to the [[Texas annexation]].{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=186–187}} Clay was nominated for president at the [[1844 Whig National Convention]],{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=221–222}} while the Democrats spurned both Tyler and former president Van Buren in favor of [[James K. Polk]], a protege of Andrew Jackson.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=683–684}} Webster's service in the Tyler administration had badly damaged his credibility among Whigs, but he began to rebuild old alliances within the party.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=584–586}} Tyler's attempts to annex Texas became the key issue in the 1844 election, and Webster came out strongly against annexation. He campaigned on behalf of Clay, telling one crowd, "I know of no great national constitutional question; I know of no great interest of the country ... in which there is any difference between the distinguished leader of the Whig Party and myself."{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=591–596}} Despite Webster's campaigning, Polk defeated Clay in a close election.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=243–244}} The election of the expansionist Polk ensured the annexation of Texas, and annexation was completed after Polk took office.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=255–258}}