Although Jackson was a Democrat and Daniel Webster a National Republican and later a Whig, they did agree on the idea of Union. Standing poles apart from both was Vice President John C. Calhoun. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren and Calhoun began in a clash over who was to be the heir apparent to Jackson, a position Van Buren easily attained as Calhoun moved farther and farther to the states' right position. Calhoun needed that position to keep strength in South Carolina, while Van Buren had a comfortable political base in New York. Jackson was not totally unsympathetic to states' rights issues, but felt Calhoun and South Carolina went far too far afield in nullification of the tariff in 1832. The fact that that Floride Calhoun, John C.'s wife, had been one of the leaders of the assaults on Peggy Eaton did not help Calhoun's position in the least.
In the midst of the controversy over state's rights, Jackson and Calhoun both attended an annual Jefferson Day dinner on April 15, 1830. When the time came for offering toasts, Jackson raised a glass and looked directly at the South Carolina delegation and proclaimed, "Our Union, it must be preserved!" Apparently riled by Jackson's pointed jibe (Martin van Buren claimed that Calhoun spilled his wine as he arose) Calhoun glared back at the President and declared, "The Union, next to our liberty most dear! May we all remember that it can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the states and distributing equally the benefit and burden of the Union!"
Thereafter John C. Calhoun became the leading spokesman for the Southern states rights position. As such, his hopes for ever gaining the White House virtually disappeared. When Secretary of War John Eaton uncovered records in the war Department revealing that Calhoun had been critical of Jackson during the latter's foray in Florida in 1818, the rift between Calhoun and Jackson became permanent. Martin Van Buren replaced Calhoun as vice president during Jackson's second term.
World History
