The three senators and statesmen (arranged here alphabetically) dominated American politics during the Second Party System (1828–1852), from the start of the John Quincy Adams administration through the Compromise of 1850.
The three were reunited in the Senate in 1832, with Calhoun's resignation from the vice presidency and election to the Senate in the midst of the Nullification Crisis. The three would remain in the Senate until their deaths, with exceptions for Webster and Calhoun's tenures as Secretary of State and Clay's presidential campaigns in 1844 and 1848. The time these three men spent in the Senate represents a time of rising political pressure in the United States, especially on the matter of slavery. With each one representing the three major sections of the United States at that time and their respective mindsets (the Western settlers, the Northern businessmen, and the Southern slaveholders), the Great Triumvirate was responsible for symbolizing the opposing viewpoints of the American people and giving them a voice in the government. The debates leading to the Compromise of 1850 were the last major contribution of the three as they were eclipsed by a new generation of political leaders like Jefferson Davis, William H. Seward, and Stephen A. Douglas.
Calhoun was so ill at the time of the Senate debate on the Compromise that he was unable to deliver his fiery speech opposing it, instead having it read for him by James Mason while he sat in the chamber. Calhoun would die just two weeks later on March 31, 1850. Within three years, Clay and Webster would die as well.[4]
H. W. Brands (2018). Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants. Doubleday. ISBN978-0385542531.
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