Daniel Webster

Daniel Webster
Daguerreotype of Webster, c. 1847
14th and 19th United States Secretary of State
In office July 23, 1850 – October 24, 1852
President	Millard Fillmore
Preceded by	John M. Clayton
Succeeded by	Charles Magill Conrad
In office March 6, 1841 – May 8, 1843
President	William Henry Harrison John Tyler
Preceded by	John Forsyth
Succeeded by	Abel P. Upshur
Chair of the Senate Finance Committee
In office December 2, 1833 – December 5, 1836[1]
Preceded by	John Forsyth
Succeeded by	Silas Wright
United States Senator from Massachusetts
In office March 4, 1845 – July 22, 1850
Preceded by	Rufus Choate
Succeeded by	Robert Charles Winthrop
In office June 8, 1827 – February 22, 1841
Preceded by	Elijah H. Mills
Succeeded by	Rufus Choate
Chair of the House Judiciary Committee
In office 1823–1827
Preceded by	Hugh Nelson
Succeeded by	Philip P. Barbour
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
In office March 4, 1823 – May 30, 1827
Preceded by	Benjamin Gorham
Succeeded by	Benjamin Gorham
Constituency	Massachusetts's 1st district
In office March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1817
Preceded by	George Sullivan
Succeeded by	Arthur Livermore
Constituency	New Hampshire's at-large district
Personal details
Born	(1782-01-18)January 18, 1782 Salisbury, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	October 24, 1852(1852-10-24) (aged 70) Marshfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Whig
Other political affiliations	Federalist (before 1825) National Republican (1825–1833)
Spouses	Grace Fletcher ​ ​ (m. 1808; died 1828)​ Caroline LeRoy Webster ​ ​ (m. 1829)​
Children	5, including Fletcher
Education	Dartmouth College Phillips Exeter Academy
Signature
Coat of arms

Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the 14th and 19th U.S. secretary of state under presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore. Webster was one of the most prominent American lawyers of the 19th century, arguing over 200 cases before the United States Supreme Court in his career. During his life, Webster had been a member of the Federalist Party, the National Republican Party, and the Whig Party. He was among the three members of the Great Triumvirate along with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun.

Born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, in 1782, Webster established a successful legal practice in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, after graduating from Dartmouth College and serving a legal apprenticeship. A prominent opponent of the War of 1812, he won election to the United States House of Representatives, where he served as a leader of the Federalist Party. Webster left office after two terms and moved to Boston, Massachusetts. He became a leading attorney before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning cases such as Dartmouth College v. Woodward, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden.

Webster returned to Congress in 1823 and became a key supporter of President John Quincy Adams. He won election to the United States Senate in 1827 and worked with Henry Clay to build the National Republican Party in support of Adams. After Andrew Jackson defeated Adams in the 1828 U.S. presidential election, Webster became a leading opponent of Jackson's domestic policies. He strongly objected to the theory of nullification espoused by John C. Calhoun. His 1830 Second Reply to Hayne speech is widely regarded as one of the greatest speeches ever delivered in Congress.

Webster supported Jackson's defiant response to the Nullification Crisis but broke with the president due to disagreements over the Second Bank of the United States. Webster joined with other Jackson opponents in forming the Whig Party, and unsuccessfully ran in the 1836 U.S. presidential election. He supported Harrison in the 1840 U.S. presidential election and was appointed secretary of state after Harrison took office. Unlike the other members of Harrison's Cabinet, he continued to serve under President Tyler after Tyler broke with congressional Whigs. As secretary of state, Webster negotiated the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, which settled border disputes with Britain. In 1837, Webster was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.^[2]

Webster returned to the Senate in 1845 and resumed his status as a leading congressional Whig. During the Mexican–American War, he emerged as a leader of the "Cotton Whigs", a faction of Northern Whigs that emphasized good relations with the South over anti-slavery policies. In 1850, President Fillmore appointed Webster as secretary of state, and Webster contributed to the passage of the Compromise of 1850, which settled several territorial issues and enacted a new fugitive slave law. The Compromise proved unpopular in much of the North and undermined Webster's standing in his home state. Webster sought the Whig presidential nomination in the 1852 U.S. presidential election, but a split between supporters of Fillmore and Webster led to the nomination of Major General Winfield Scott. Webster is widely regarded as an important and talented attorney, orator, and politician, but historians and observers have offered mixed opinions on his moral qualities and ability as a national leader.