Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782October 24, 1852) was a leading American
senator and statesman during the era of the
Second Party System, which was the
political system in the United States from about 1828 to 1854, characterized by rapidly increasing voter interest and personal loyalty to parties. Webster was the outstanding spokesman for American nationalism with powerful oratory that made him a key
Whig leader. He spoke for
conservatives, and led the opposition to Democrat
Andrew Jackson and his
Democratic Party. He was a spokesman for modernization, banking, and industry, but not for the common people who composed the base of his opponents in
Jacksonian Democracy. "He was a thoroughgoing elitist, and he reveled in it," says biographer
Robert Remini. During his 40 years in national politics, Webster served in the House of Representatives for eight years (representing New Hampshire and then Massachusetts) and in the Senate for 19 years (representing Massachusetts), and served as the
United States Secretary of State under three presidents (William Henry Harrison and John Tyler after his death as well as Millard Fillmore).