Editing Daniel Webster (section)

==First period in the Senate==
===Adams administration, 1827–1829===
{{See also|Presidency of John Quincy Adams}}

In 1827, the Massachusetts legislature elected him to the [[United States Senate]]. He was initially reluctant to leave the House of Representatives, where he had established seniority and a strong base of power, but ultimately accepted election to the Senate.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=277–281}} After a period of consideration, he voted for the [[Tariff of 1828]], which raised tariff rates.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=295–299}} Prior to the [[1828 U.S. presidential election]], he worked with Clay to build the National Republican Party across the country. While Clay rallied support for the party in the West, he emerged as a leading National Republican in the Northeastern states.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=273–277}} Despite his efforts and those of Clay, Democratic candidate Andrew Jackson decisively defeated President Adams in the 1828 election.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=301–302}}

===Jackson administration, 1829–1837===
{{See also|Presidency of Andrew Jackson}}

====Second Reply to Hayne====
{{quote box|align=right|style=background:#b0c4de; width:35em; max-width: 40%
|quote = When my eyes shall be turned to behold
for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the
broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States
dissevered, discordant, belligerent; on a land rent with civil feuds, or
drenched, it may be, in fraternal blood! Let their last feeble and
lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic... not a stripe
erased or polluted, nor a single star obscured, bearing for its motto,
no such miserable interrogatory as "What is all this worth?" nor those
other words of delusion and folly, "Liberty first and Union afterwards";
but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing
on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land,
and in every wind under the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to
every true American heart,— Liberty ''and''  Union, now and for ever, one
and inseparable!
|source = '''Daniel Webster''' (''[[Webster–Hayne debate|Second Reply to Hayne]]'')
}}

After Jackson took office, Webster opposed most of the measures favored by the new administration, including the [[Indian Removal Act]] and the establishment of the [[spoils system]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=313–315, 334}} The Jackson administration suffered from factionalism between supporters of Secretary of State Van Buren and Vice President Calhoun, the latter of whom took a prominent role in propounding the doctrine of [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullification]]. Calhoun held that the states had the power to "nullify" laws, and he and his allies sought to nullify the high tariff rates imposed by the Tariff of 1828 (which they referred to as the "Tariff of Abominations").{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=313–314}} During a debate over land policy in January 1830, South Carolina Senator [[Robert Y. Hayne]], in an effort to sway the West against the North and the tariff, accused the North of attempting to limit Western expansion for their own benefit. Hayne served as a surrogate for Vice President Calhoun, who could not himself address the Senate on the issue due to his status as the Senate's [[President of the Senate|presiding officer]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Schouler
 | first = James
 | year = 1891
 | title = History of the United States
 | publisher = Dodd, Mead & Company
 | location = New York
}}</ref>{{page needed|date=December 2018}} Webster objected to the sectional attack on the North, but even more strongly objected to Hayne's pro-states' rights position. Speaking before the Senate, he articulated his belief in a "perpetual" union and attacked the institution of [[slavery in the United States|slavery]], baiting Hayne into expounding on the doctrine of nullification on the Senate floor.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=318–320}}

[[File:Webster's Reply to Hayne, by Healy (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|''Webster's Reply to Hayne'' by [[George Peter Alexander Healy]], 1851]]

Replying to his first speech, Hayne accused him of "making war upon the unoffending South," and he asserted that nullification was constitutional because the federal government was ultimately subservient to the states.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=321–324}} On January 27, Webster delivered his response, titled the ''[[Webster–Hayne debate|Second Reply to Hayne]]''. He held that the people, and not the states, held ultimate power, and the people had established the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. He further argued that the doctrine of nullification "approach[ed] absurdity," and, by denying power to the federal government, would effectively restore the balance of power established under the [[Articles of Confederation]]. He argued that nullification constituted [[treason in the United States|treason]] against the United States, and would ultimately lead to civil war as state officials would call out the militia to resist federal laws and actions. He ended his speech with a call for "Liberty ''and''  Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable!"{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=325–328}} The ''Second Reply to Hayne'' was reprinted thousands of times, and was favorably received throughout the country. In assessing the speech's impact and popularity, some contemporaries compared it to the [[Federalist Papers]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=329–330}} Three months after he delivered the ''Second Reply to Hayne'', Calhoun openly broke with President Jackson when, in response to Jackson's [[Toast (honor)|toast]] of "Our Union, it be preserved," Calhoun replied, "The Union: Next to our liberty, the most dear."{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=335}}

====Bank War and 1832 election====

By 1830, he considered Clay to be the likely National Republican nominee in the [[1832 U.S. presidential election]], though he was skeptical that Clay would be able to defeat the Democratic nominee.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=336–337, 341}} The establishment of the [[Anti-Masonic Party]], a [[Third party (United States)|third party]] opposed to both Jackson and Clay, added a new factor into the election. Some Anti-Masonic leaders attempted to recruit him to run for the presidency,{{efn|Unlike Jackson and Clay, he was not a member of a [[Masonic]] fraternity.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=339}}}} but he ultimately declined to run for fear of alienating Clay and other National Republicans.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=339–340}} Instead, he undertook a subtle campaign to win the National Republican nomination, planning a tour of the Northeast and the [[Old Northwest|Northwest]]; His angling for the presidency marked the start of an ambivalent relationship between Clay and Webster.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=341–342}} Nonetheless, he urged Clay to accept election to the Senate, and the two convinced [[Nicholas Biddle (banker)|Nicholas Biddle]], the president of the national bank, to apply for an early renewal of the national bank's charter. As Jackson had a long record of opposing the national bank, both hoped to make the national bank an issue in the 1832 presidential election. Clay was formally nominated by the National Republicans in December 1831, while Jackson was nominated for a second term in 1832.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=344–345}}

Biddle requested a renewal of the national bank's charter in January 1832, setting off what became known as the "[[Bank War]]."{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=345, 356}} With Clay focusing on a tariff bill, Webster became the unofficial leader of pro-national bank forces in the Senate. He helped ensure that Congress approved a renewal of the charter without making any major modifications, such as a provision that would allow states to prevent the national bank from establishing branches within their borders.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=360–363}} Congress approved the charter renewal, but, as was expected, Jackson vetoed the bill in July 1832; Jackson argued the bank was unconstitutional and served to "make the rich richer and the potent more powerful." On the Senate floor, Webster attacked the veto, arguing that only the judicial branch could judge a bill's constitutionality.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=363–368}} Afterward he supported Clay's presidential campaign and continued his efforts on behalf of the national bank, but Jackson was re-elected by a decisive margin.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=370–371}}

==== Nullification Crisis ====
[[File:Francis Alexander - Daniel Webster - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Portrait of Webster by [[Francis Alexander (painter)|Francis Alexander]], 1835]]
Though Congress replaced the "Tariff of Abominations" with the [[Tariff of 1832]], Calhoun and his Nullifier allies remained dissatisfied with tariff rates.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=400–404}} Shortly after the 1832 presidential election, a South Carolina convention passed a resolution declaring the Tariff of 1832 to be "null, void, and no law" in South Carolina, marking the start of the [[Nullification Crisis]]. Hayne resigned from the Senate to become the governor of South Carolina, while Calhoun took Hayne's former seat in the Senate. In December 1832, Jackson issued the [[Proclamation to the People of South Carolina]], warning that he would not allow South Carolina to defy federal law. Webster strongly approved of the Proclamation, telling an audience at [[Faneuil Hall]] that Jackson had articulated "the true principles of the Constitution," and that he would give the president "my entire and cordial support" in the crisis.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=372–374}} He strongly supported Jackson's proposed [[Force Bill]], which would authorize the president to use force against states that attempted to obstruct federal law. At the same time, he opposed Clay's efforts to end the crisis by lowering tariff rates, as he believed that making concessions to Calhoun's forces would set a bad precedent.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=374–377}} After a spirited debate between himself and Calhoun, Congress passed the Force Bill in February 1833. Soon after, it passed the [[Tariff of 1833]], the product of negotiations between Clay and Calhoun; the bill called for the gradual lowering of tariffs over a ten-year period. Although they symbolically "nullified" the Force Bill, South Carolina leaders accepted the new tariff law, bringing an end to the Nullification Crisis.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=381–387}}

====Rise of the Whig Party and 1836 candidacy====
[[File:ElectoralCollege1836.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|1836 electoral vote results]]

As Calhoun drifted away from the Democratic Party and occasionally cooperated with the National Republicans to oppose Jackson, some contemporaries began to refer to Calhoun, Webster, and Clay as "the [[Great Triumvirate]]."{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=359}} At the same time, Webster's alliance with Jackson in the Nullification Crisis caused some observers to wonder if he would join the Democratic Party or found a new party centered on their nationalistic vision.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=374, 387–388}} Jackson's decision to remove government deposits from the national bank in late 1833 ended any possibility of a Webster-Jackson alliance and helped to solidify partisan lines.{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=202–203}} As chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Finance|Senate Finance Committee]], Webster led the Senate's effort to prevent Jackson's secretary of the treasury, [[Roger Taney]], from removing government deposits.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=401, 408–409}} As the national bank's charter was due to expire in 1836, before the end of Jackson's term, he attempted to save the national bank through a compromise measure, but Democrats rejected his proposal. Ultimately, the Senate was unable to prevent the deposit removals or the expiration of the national bank's charter, but it did pass resolutions [[Censure in the United States|censuring]] Jackson and Taney. Webster's decision to vote for the censure resolution caused a permanent break with Jackson.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=410–412}}

In the aftermath of the battle over the national bank, Jackson's political opponents coalesced into the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]]. By taking a name rooted in American and British history, the Whigs implicitly criticized Jackson as a tyrannical executive.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=413–415, 420}} Although National Republicans like Clay and Webster formed the core of the Whig Party, Anti-Masonic leaders like [[William H. Seward]] and states' rights Democrats like [[John Tyler]] also joined the new party.{{sfn|Cole|1993|pp=211–213}} The Whig Party proved more durable than the National Republican Party and, along with the Democrats, the Whigs became one of the two major parties of the [[Second Party System]], which would extend into the 1850s.{{sfn|Howe|2007|p=390}} By 1834, Webster supporters such as [[Caleb Cushing]], [[Rufus Choate]], [[Abbott Lawrence]], and [[Edward Everett]] had begun preparing for his candidacy in the [[1836 U.S. presidential election]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=425–426}} With Clay showing no indication of making another run, Webster hoped to become the main Whig candidate in the 1836 election, but General [[William Henry Harrison]] and Senator [[Hugh Lawson White]] retained strong support in the West and the South, respectively. Rather than uniting behind one presidential candidate, Whig leaders settled on a strategy of running multiple candidates in order to force a contingent election in the House of Representatives.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=427–429}}

He was nominated for president by the Massachusetts legislature, but Harrison won the backing of most Whigs outside of the South. Although his reputation as a national figure was far greater than that of Harrison, many Whigs hoped that Harrison's military record would allow him to replicate Jackson's 1828 victory.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=430–431, 439–440}} Webster's chances also suffered from his lingering association with the Federalist Party, his close relationship with elite politicians and businessmen, and his lack of appeal among the broad populace; [[Robert Remini]] writes that the American public "admired and revered him but did not love or trust him."{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=450–451}} With little support outside of his home state, he attempted to withdraw his presidential candidacy, but, to his eventual regret, Massachusetts Whig leaders convinced him to stay in the race.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=444–448}} Meanwhile, the [[1835 Democratic National Convention]] nominated Van Buren, Jackson's preferred successor, for president. In the 1836 election, Van Buren won a majority of the popular and electoral vote, Harrison finished a distant second, and White carried two Southern states. Webster won only the electoral votes of Massachusetts.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=448–449}} Adding to his displeasure, he lost a major Supreme Court decision, ''[[Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge]]'', shortly after the election.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=459–461}}{{efn|Aside from ''Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge'', other major cases he argued before the Taney Court include ''[[Thurlow v. Massachusetts]]''{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=605}} and ''[[Luther v. Borden]]''.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=640}}
}}

===Van Buren administration, 1837–1841===
{{See also|Presidency of Martin Van Buren}}
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?93567-1/daniel-webster-man-time Presentation by Robert Remini on ''Daniel Webster: The Man and His Time'', October 5, 1997], [[C-SPAN]]}}
Shortly after Van Buren took office, a major economic downturn known as the [[Panic of 1837]] began. Webster and his Whig allies blamed Jackson's policies, including the [[Specie Circular]], for the panic, but a worldwide economic downturn was a major contributing factor. The panic hit the country hard and proved disastrous for Webster's personal finances.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=466–467}} With the help of Nicholas Biddle and other friendly bankers, Webster had gone into debt to engage in [[land speculation]] on a broad scale.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=452–453}} His debt was exacerbated by his propensity for lavishly furnishing his estate and giving away money with "reckless generosity and heedless profusion," in addition to indulging the smaller-scale "passions and appetites" of gambling and alcohol.{{sfn|Lodge|1883|p=118}} The panic resulted in many creditors calling in their loans and, according to Remini, Webster would never emerge from debt after 1837.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=466}} Nonetheless, he remained focused on his political career.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=466–467}} While Whigs promoted the American System as the means for economic recovery, Van Buren's response to the panic focused on the practice of "strict economy and frugality."{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=505–506}} Webster attacked Van Buren's proposals to address the economic crisis, including the establishment of an [[Independent Treasury]] system,{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=470–472}} and he helped arrange for the rescinding of the Specie Circular.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=478–479}}

He entertained hopes of winning the Whig nomination in the [[1840 U.S. presidential election]] but ultimately declined to challenge Clay or Harrison, both of whom commanded broader support within the party.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=483–484}} He remained neutral between Clay and Harrison, instead departing for a trip to Europe, where he attended his daughter's wedding and befriended [[Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=487–497}} While he was abroad, the [[1839 Whig National Convention]] nominated Harrison for president. Although many Whigs favored a Harrison-Webster ticket, the convention instead nominated John Tyler of Virginia for vice president.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=501–502}} Webster served as a prominent campaign surrogate for Harrison in the 1840 election, although he disliked the party's new, popular style of campaigning that made use of songs and slogans like "Tippecanoe and Tyler too."{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=505–507}} The Whigs enjoyed great success in the 1840 elections, as Harrison took a majority of the popular and electoral vote and the party won control of Congress.{{sfn|Howe|2007|p=575}}