Whigs From The Past

Established in 1833, the Whigs are one of America's oldest mainstream political parties. Whigs were the original party of Abraham Lincoln and four other U.S. Presidents, including New York-born Millard Fillmore.

The American Whig Party was founded in opposition to the centralizing policies of President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837). Jackson, a Democrat, sought to expand Executive power at the expense of Congress and favored the so-called “spoils system”, according to which government officials were appointed based on connections and party loyalty instead of merit.

In addition to opposing autocratic rule and cronyism, American Whigs advocated economic development through domestic manufacturing, federally-subsidized infrastructure projects, a national bank, protective tariffs and public education.

Four U.S. Presidents were Whigs, two of whom had the misfortune of dying in office:

William Henry Harrison (1841), died in office

John Tyler (1841–1845)

Zachary Taylor (1849–1850), died in office

Millard Fillmore (1850–1853)

Other prominent Whigs included:

Henry Clay: Secretary of State (1825-1829), US Senator (1831-42 and 1849-52), Speaker of the House of Representatives (1811-14, 1815-20, 1823-25). He was one of America's great orators and a founder of the Whigs.

Daniel Webster: Secretary of State (1841-42, 1850-52), US Senator (1827-41, 1845-50), and arguably America's greatest orator.

General Winfield Scott: 53-year military career (1808-1861), Commanding General of the US Army, Whig Party candidate for President in 1852.

John Quincy Adams: joined the Whigs in 1834, after serving as President (1825-1829) and Secretary of State (1817-1825), then served as Congressman until his death in 1848. An ardent opponent of slavery, he authored the Monroe Doctrine and famously declared that America "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy."

Abraham Lincoln: began his political career as a Whig Congressman (1846-48), ran for the US Senate as a Whig in 1854, described himself as late as 1861 as "an old-line Henry Clay Whig". The rest is history!

By 1856, deep divisions over the issue of slavery caused the party to split apart. Most Northern Whigs including Lincoln joined the newly formed Republican Party, while Southern Whigs either joined the Democrats or gradually disappeared.

Tragically, the monumental upheaval that broke up the Whigs also tore apart American society and ultimately took Abraham Lincoln’s life in 1865.