Politics and Public Service
Daniel Webster
1782-1852

Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire and educated at Phillips (Exeter) Academy and Dartmouth College. He studied law, taught briefly and was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1805. His law practice soon led him into political activities and he represented his home state in Congress from 1813 to 1817. Webster was a dependable ally of the New England shipping interests; he opposed the War of 1812, but did not lend his support to the Hartford Convention.

In 1816 Webster moved to Boston and became one of the nation’s leading attorneys. His participation in the Dartmouth College case and McCulloch v. Maryland left an enormous imprint on American constitutional law. Webster also matured into one of the great orators of his era, delivering notable speeches at the bicentennial of the founding of Plymouth in 1820 and the dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument in 1825.

Webster was elected to Congress from Massachusetts in 1822 and served in the Senate from 1827 to 1841. During these years he underwent a political transformation, deserting his earlier free trade principles for strong support of the tariff. Webster had come to equate protectionism with the national interest.

In 1830, in one of the greatest exchanges in Senate history, Webster opposed nullification and argued for the supremacy of the federal government (Webster Hayne Debate). Webster and Andrew Jackson were united in their opposition to nullification, but disagreed on most other matters.

Webster yearned for the presidency, but failed to reach that ultimate goal — a disappointment he shared with such other great contemporaries as John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay. As secretary of state under William Henry Harrison and John Tyler, Webster negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1843, his greatest diplomatic achievement.

From 1845 to 1850, Webster served again in the Senate where he worked on behalf of the Compromise of 1850. Webster was personally opposed to slavery, but accommodated Southern concerns because of his deeply held belief that the preservation of the Union was more important than any other issue. This position cost him the support of anti-slavery groups in the North. From 1850 until his death, Webster was secretary of state under Millard Fillmore.

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