Editing Daniel Webster (section)

===First stint in the House, 1813–1817===
{{see also|Presidency of James Madison}}

By May 1813, when he arrived in the House of Representatives for the first time, the United States had seen numerous setbacks in the War of 1812. Nonetheless, Madison's Democratic-Republican Party dominated the [[13th United States Congress|Thirteenth Congress]], controlling over three-fifths of the seats in the House of Representatives and over two-thirds of the seats in the Senate.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=103–105}} Webster continued to criticize the war and attacked efforts to impose [[conscription in the United States|conscription]], wartime taxes, and a new trade embargo.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=107–109, 112–113}} He was appointed to a steering committee that coordinated Federalist actions in the House of Representatives and, by the end of the Thirteenth Congress, he had emerged as a respected speaker on the House floor.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=109, 120–122}} In early 1815, the war came to an end after news of the signing of the [[Treaty of Ghent]] reached the United States.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=131–132}}

After the war, President Madison called for the establishment of the [[Second Bank of the United States]] (known as the "[[History of central banking in the United States|national bank]]"), the imposition of a [[protective tariff]], and federally-financed [[internal improvements|public works]]. While Speaker of the House [[Henry Clay]] and Congressman [[John C. Calhoun]] worked to pass Madison's proposals, other Democratic-Republicans opposed these policies because they conflicted with the party's traditional commitment to a weaker federal government.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=135–136, 141}} Webster favored a national bank in principle, but he voted against the bill that established the national bank because he believed that the bank should be required to remove paper [[banknote]]s issued by various state-charted banks from circulation. Before the national bank came into operation, he then led the passage of a bill that required all debts to the government to be paid in [[coins|specie]], Treasury notes, or notes issued by the national bank.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=136–137}} In the tariff debate, he occupied a middle ground; he favored using tariff rates to protect domestic manufacturing, but did not want tariff rates to be so high that they would harm his home state's trading concerns. Though he took an active role in crafting the tariff bill, he ultimately missed the final vote on the [[Tariff of 1816]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=137–140}} Seeking more lucrative legal work, he began to strongly consider relocating to Boston or New York during his time in Congress.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=131}} In 1816, he declined to seek another term in the House of Representatives, instead establishing a new residence in Boston. In the [[United States elections, 1816|1816 elections]], the Federalist Party suffered numerous defeats throughout the country and Democratic-Republican candidate [[James Monroe]] was elected president.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=141–145}}