Chapter 38: Henry Clay’s Whig Party ushers in America’s “Second Political System.”

With the National-Republicans vanishing after JQ Adams’ loss, Henry Clay begins his search for a credible option to defeat Jackson.

His first attempt, in 1828, is the Anti-Masonic Party, a far-fetched attempt to paint Jackson as the head of a secret cult with possibly suspect intentions and allegiances. This fails to stick when the public is reminded that George Washington, like Jackson, was also a lifelong Mason.

Nevertheless Clay perseveres by starting up his own Party which he christens the Whigs, in honor of the English coalition, famous for standing against the monarchy. By 1834 the Whigs are well organized and will provide the main political competition for the Democrats for the next twenty years.

In Clay’s mind, “King Andrew” behaves like a monarch and backs public policies that inhibit the nation’s progress. In their place, he proposes his “American System” with aggressive federal funding of infrastructure projects needed to develop a diversified economy. Meanwhile Jackson remains committed to support for agriculture and small farmers, along with opposition to investment spending, federal debt and corporate entities like the federal bank which favors insiders over the common man.

Profile of the Democrats and the Whigs