The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun

This is a great, great history of a time and group of men who helped shape America. These three individuals (Webster, Clay, and Calhoun) exercised great control over the development of the United States. The synergies that resulted from their interaction within the halls of government would set the US of a path that made many events more likely than not. In this book, we are treated to each of their personalities, ideologies, and decisions that lay before each of them. We see how each worked to ensure their goals would prevail. This book provides great detail on each scene that is set before the reader and reflects the importance all possible choices before each of these great actors. The book is well sourced and can be dense at spots, but is still worth the effort mainstream audiences. A great book that deserves to be read by all students of US politics.

~The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun~ is a powerful biography, of not one but three prominent U.S. Senators. Henry Clay (1777-1852) of Kentucky, John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) of South Carolina who was also the 7th Vice President, and Daniel Webster (1782-1852) of Massachusetts. As a result of their mutual antagonisms, they became known to historians as the Great Triumvirate. Clay, a consummate "warhawk," stood out for his achievements at spearheading legislation, assembling sponsors, and garnering compromises. Calhoun once a youthful nationalist, stood out for his steadfast stance in favor of states' rights and his acute logical sense. Webster was renowned as the vivacious orator who spoke stirring speeches of nationalist sentiment. All of these men greatly influenced their era. The author Merill Peterson brings to life the great contests and debates of their time. The Triumvirate figured prominently in those debates whether it was the feud over the American system, the nature of the Union, or the Missouri Compromise dealing with slavery, their influence could be seen and heard. All of their tense contests in the U.S. Senate were in the backdrop of the Jacksonian era, which was a time of bombastic oratory in Congress and tense passion for democracy and the common man felt in the American heartland. All of these men in the Triumvirate fancied themselves as champions of the people no doubt. The great controversies of the time were animated by the respective positions of Calhoun, Clay and Webster. Issues over internal improvements, tariffs, slavery, and the destiny of the burgeoning American empire figured prominently in the political discourse of the triumvirate. All of these men saw themselves as great statesmen and men of principle. Both Clay and Webster were in the hip-pocket of the Second Bank of the United States, which was sorely detested by Andrew Jackson who decried it as a "monster." Clay was once a Jeffersonian states' rights champion, but frequently oscillated back and forth as a National Republican in favor of federally-sponsored internal improvements. Webster's hypocrisy is manifest in his days before the Hartford Convention and his 1850 Capon Springs speech, where he essentially affirmed that the adherents of the compact view of the Union were right. Jackson stampeded Clay's legislative agenda. Subsequently, Clay's feuding with Jackson compelled him to advocate abolition of the Presidential veto power. Calhoun's solicitude for the Constitution compelled him to defend the veto power all the same. Both Clay and Calhoun were detested by Jackson, and the mutual antagonisms seethed beneath the surface amidst the battles over tariff policy and nullification. Calhoun was said by Randolph to speak in "axioms" when the logic of his thought was much admired and praised. Calhoun spent his twilight years in the wake of the nullification controversy writing what he hoped would be his most enduring contribution to American politic

The Great Triumvirate paints a rich picture of the political life in the early 1800's. The lives of Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster would shape the course of politics during the first half of the 1800's. These men would pick up where the founding fathers left off and define what it would mean to be American. They represented their sections of the countries but each would bow to the political realties of the time. In the end they were so good at representing their sections that their efforts to achieve the presidency would be met with failure. Henry Clay "the great compromiser" was a tyrant of the Senate and his political domination was impressive in preventing an outbreak of the civil war. While from the South Calhoun was an astute political observer who worked to preserve the institution of slavery. Daniel Webster as the fiery orator from the North was the consummate constitutionalist who the abolitionists hoped to have on their side. These three would "rule" the United States through their congressional domination like the triumvirates of Rome. The interaction between the three was not as great as I expected and more often than not they were working at cross purposes. The political pandering that grows out of this time period (especially with regard to Calhoun) sets the stage for the political discourse that we see emerging in the United States today. The election of 1848 painted here bears remarkable parallels to the 2008 presidential election that is shaping up. For those who want an understanding of our political history this is an essential book to read. These three men defined the next evolution in American government and this is the best book to show how they worked against and with each other to achieve the union.

Peterson has to be the top historian in Early American Republic history and this book proves it. You would not think that one book on these three giants could do them justice, but this one does it magnificently. Peterson incorporates the lives and careers of these three men to illustrate the plights and problems of Early America, issues that were facing the nation, the factionalism which shaped the way the issues were tackle, and the manner in which disputes in policy matters had to be resolved. During this time span in American history, you could read the biographies of four individuals and have a good understanding of what happened during that time span and these are three of them, with John Quincy Adams being the 4th.

Anyone who is fascinated by ante-bellum American history will, I think, enjoy this book. The great triumvirate played a dominating role in the history of our country from 1812 till they died, and reading this book is similar to reading the history of the country during that period, because everything happening politically during that time was affected by one or more of the principals in this work. Peterson does a great job telling the story. My only complaint about the book is that it has no bibliography, and it is tough trying to make up such from the 55 pages of notes which are in the book. How much the book would be enhanced by a bibliography! But if the lack of a bibliography does not bother you then you should find nothing to complain about in regard to this book. I was inspired to read the book by the fact that the author's Lincoln in American Memory is such a great book that it won my personal prize for the best book I read in 1996 (a year in which I read 126 books).