Daniel Webster

Born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, in 1782, Daniel Webster rose from a rural upbringing to become one of the best-known lawyers and political figures of 19th-century America. He studied at Dartmouth, built a successful law practice, and won early notice for the force and clarity of his public speaking.

Webster served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for both New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and he was twice Secretary of State. He became especially famous for major Supreme Court arguments and for Senate speeches that defended a strong federal government and the preservation of the Union, including his celebrated reply to Robert Y. Hayne.

In his later years, Webster remained a towering national figure, though some of his political choices divided admirers who had once seen him as a moral as well as a constitutional leader. He died in Marshfield, Massachusetts, in 1852, leaving behind a reputation for unmatched eloquence and a lasting place in the story of American public life.