Adams, John Quincy, as Sixth President

Circular letter signed ("J. Q. Adams"), written in a clerical hand, 1 page (10 x 7 7/8 in.; 253 x 201 mm) on a bifolium of wove paper (watermarked Hudson), Washington, 12 January 1829, this copy directed by "The President of the United States To Daniel Webster, Senator for the State of Massachusetts," docketed on verso of integral blank; lightly browned.

Circular letter signed ("J. Q. Adams"), written in a clerical hand, 1 page (10 x 7 7/8 in.; 253 x 201 mm) on a bifolium of wove paper (watermarked Hudson), Washington, 12 January 1829, this copy directed by "The President of the United States To Daniel Webster, Senator for the State of Massachusetts," docketed on verso of integral blank; lightly browned.
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John Quincy Adams calls Daniel Webster to the final Congressional session of his presidency for the inauguration of his bitter rival, Andrew Jackson. "Certain matters touching the Public Good requiring that the Senate of the United States should be convened on Wednesday, the fourth day of March, next, You are desired to attend at the Senate Chamber, in the City of Washington, on that day, then and there to receive and deliberate on such communications as shall be made to you."

John Quincy Adams refused to attend Jackson's investiture, which, for the first time, took place on the East Portico of the Capitol. Following the new President's inaugural address, an uncontrolled crowd of fifteen or twenty thousand swarmed through the White House, severely damaging its furniture and fixtures and forcing Jackson to flee to Gadsby's Hotel, where he spent the night.

At the time, Webster was just beginning his illustrious career in the Senate, where he was a constant advocate for the preservation of the Union—sometimes alienating his antislavery supporters with his willingness to compromise with the South. Webster's political influence in the Antebellum Period was assured the following year when he rebutted South Carolina Senator R. Y. Hayne's "Carolina Doctrine" of "Liberty first and Union afterwards" with his own credo: "Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one and inseparable."