Whig party

An American political party formed in the 1830s to oppose President Andrew Jackson and the Democrats. Whigs stood for protective tariffs, national banking, and federal aid for internal improvements. Senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were prominent Whigs, as were four presidents (William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Millard Fillmore). The party fell into disunity in the 1850s over slavery; some former Whigs, including Abraham Lincoln, then joined the new Republican party.