The statue on the far right in my picture of Statuary Hall in the intro to my series, “Statues: The People They Salute,” is of Daniel Webster. New Hampshire chose him as one of the statues to represent their state.
Daniel Webster was a constitutional lawyer. He argued over 200 cases before the Supreme Court, and is said to have won half of them. He spoke out strongly for American nationalism, but was considered an elitist.
Daniel Webster served in the United States House of Representatives as New Hampshire’s congressman from 1813 until 1817. He was Massachusetts representative in The House from 1823 until 1827. His talent as a powerful orator lead to his election as Massachusetts’ senator in 1827, and he held that senate position until 1841, when he became the United States Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison and John Tyler until 1843. From 1845 until 1850 he was once again the senator from Massachusetts, until, in 1850, he was once again selected as United States Secretary of State – this time under Millard Fillmore. He would serve until 1852. During this time, Webster had also sought the Whig Party nomination for President three times: in 1836, 1840 and 1852. As you can see, politically he was quite busy.
Senator Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, along with Senators Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun constituted what some have called the “Great Triumvirate”. ( “Triumvirate”? – I had no idea what it was…turns out it is derived from a Latin word which describes a political regime ruled or dominated by three powerful individuals. The arrangement can be formal or informal.)
Webster was the Northern member of the “Great Triumvirate”. Representing The West, was Henry Clay, senator of Kentucky, and The South’s voice was Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina. Webster, and fellow Whig Party member Clay wanted to prevent civil war and preserve the Union. They worked for compromises to avoid the sectionalism that threatened war between the North and the South. Webster’s support for The Compromise of 1850, devised in part by Clay, was crucial to its passage.
President Taylor was opposed to this compromise, but when he died and Vice President Millard Fillmore became president, the legislation was signed into law.
John F Kennedy wrote in his book “Profiles in Courage”, that Webster’s support of The Compromise of 1850 was brave politically because Webster stood on principle to try to prevent civil war even though it was a risk to his presidential ambitions. Others like Henry Cabot Lodge thought Webster’s support of the Compromise of 1850, actually in some ways led to the civil war he wanted to prevent.
Daniel Webster died in October of 1852, after an accident when he fell from his horse.
Statues of the other two members of the “Great Triumvirate” also reside in the National Statuary Collection in the US Capitol. Look for posts about them in the future.
Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read more in her series Statues: The People They Salute visit The Table of Contents and the Facebook Page. (I’ll be adding to the Substack Table of Contents as I transfer the Blog Posts. Please subscribe to this Substack 😊🇺🇸🤓)
Of all the past members of Congress, there is perhaps no one I’d rather hear speak than Daniel Webster. They said his voiced boomed through the Senate Chamber with an authority and confidence like no other. His intellect was matched by few. They say before a big speech you could go up at night and listen to him walking the halls by his office exercising and practicing his voice by reciting the book of Job, playing the parts of Job, God and Satan. To be a fly on the wall…