Editing Daniel Webster (section)

===Second stint in the House, 1823–1827===
{{see also|Presidency of James Monroe|Presidency of John Quincy Adams}}
[[File:Daniel Webster (1825) by Sarah Goodridge.jpg|thumb|1825 portrait of Daniel Webster, [[Sarah Goodridge]]]]
At the behest of Federalist leaders and the business elite in Boston, Webster agreed to run for the United States House of Representatives in 1822. He won the election and returned to Congress in December 1823.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=198–200}} In recognition of his mastery of legal issues, Speaker of the House Henry Clay assigned him the chairmanship of the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]]. In that role, he tried to pass a bill that would relieve Supreme Court justices of having to travel to far-flung western districts, but his bill did not receive a vote in the House.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=213–214}} Seeking to re-establish his reputation for oratorical prowess on the floor of the House of Representatives, he gave a speech supporting the [[Greece|Greek]] cause in the [[Greek War of Independence]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=210–211, 215–217}} In another speech, he attacked the bill imposing the [[Tariff of 1824]], arguing that high tariff rates unfairly benefited manufacturing to the detriment of agriculture and commerce.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=221–224}} In a third speech, he defended the construction of internal improvements by the federal government, arguing that roads helped unite the nation both economically and in creating a "feeling truly national."{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=243–244}}
While a representative, he continued accepting speaking engagements in New England, most notably his oration on the fiftieth anniversary of the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=247–251}} He also continued his legal work, though his government service required him to rely more on his law partners.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=254}}

In the [[1824 U.S. presidential election]], the Democratic-Republicans split among Clay, Calhoun, [[William H. Crawford]], [[Andrew Jackson]], and [[John Quincy Adams]].{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=211–212}} Despite their shared connection to Massachusetts, Webster had an uneasy relationship with Adams because the latter had left the Federalist Party earlier in his career;{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=197}} for his part, Adams detested him.{{sfn|Remini|1997|p=226}} As no candidate won a majority of the electoral vote, the 1824 election was decided in a [[contingent election]] held by the House of Representatives.{{efn|Under the Constitution, the House can select from the top three electoral vote winners in a contingent election for president. Thus, Jackson, Adams, and Crawford were eligible to be selected, while Clay was not. Calhoun dropped out early in the campaign and won election as vice president.}} Webster had remained neutral prior to the election, but he supported Adams in the contingent election, in large part because he viewed Jackson as completely unqualified to be president and Crawford had suffered a major stroke.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=230–231, 237}} Along with Clay, he helped rally members of the House around Adams, and Adams was elected on the first ballot of the contingent election.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=238–241}}

In 1825, President Adams set off a partisan realignment by putting forward an ambitious domestic program, based on Clay's [[American System (economic plan)|American System]], that included a vast network of federally-funded infrastructure projects. States' rights Democratic-Republicans, including Senator [[Martin Van Buren]] and Vice President John C. Calhoun, strongly opposed the program and rallied around Jackson. While some Federalists gravitated to Jackson's camp, Webster became the leader of the pro-administration forces in the House of Representatives.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=255–261}} Supporters of Adams became known as [[National Republican Party|National Republicans]], while Jackson's followers coalesced into the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Like many Federalists, he did not immediately cast aside his partisan identity as a Federalist but embraced the American System and began to favor protective tariff rates.{{sfn|Remini|1997|pp=269–272}} [[Justus D. Doenecke]] indicates that his newfound support of protective tariffs was the result of "his new closeness to the rising mill-owning families of the region, the [[Abbott Lawrence|Lawrences]] and the [[Lowell family|Lowells]]."<ref name=Discovering>"Daniel Webster." Discovering Biography. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center. Thomson Gale. June 16, 2006.</ref> He also backed the administration's defense of treaty-sanctioned [[Creek people|Creek Indian]] land rights against [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]'s expansionist claims.{{sfn|Lodge|1883|p=49}}