Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/102

 74 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS give up the game. But the resignation was not unanimous, for Daniel Webster, secretary of state, remained at his post, and on Monday morning the president nominated Walter Forward, of Penn sylvania, for secretary of the treasury; John Mc Lean, of Ohio, for secretary of war; Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia, for secretary of the navy; Hugh S. Legare, of South Carolina, for attorney- general; and Charles A. Wickliffe, of Kentucky, for postmaster-general. These appointments were duly confirmed. Whether the defection of Mr. Webster at this moment would have been so fatal to the president as some of the Whigs were inclined to believe may well be questioned, but there can be no doubt that his adherence to the president was of great value. By remaining in the cabinet Mr. Webster showed himself too clear-sighted to contribute to a victory of which the whole profit w r ould be reaped by his rival, Mr. Clay, and the president was glad to retain his hold upon so strong an element in the north as that which Mr. Webster represented. Some of the leading Whig members of congress now issued addresses to the people, in which they loudly condemned the conduct of the president and declared that &quot;all political connection between them and John Tyler was at an end from that day forth.&quot; It was open war between the two departments of government. Although many Whig members, like