In 1834 political opponents of President Andrew Jackson
organized a new party to contest Jacksonian Democrats nationally
and in the states. Guided by their most prominent leader, Henry
Clay, they called themselves Whigs-the name of the English
antimonarchist party-the better to stigmatize the seventh
president as 'King Andrew.' They were immediately derided by the
Jacksonian Democrats as a party devoted to the interests of
wealth and aristocracy, a charge they were never able to shake
completely. Yet during the party's brief life, it managed to win
support from diverse economic groups in all sections and to hold
its own in presidential elections. Although unable to unite
behind a single candidate in 1836, thus permitting Jackson's
handpicked successor Martin Van Buren to obtain an electoral
majority, the Whigs won a popular vote for their candidates that
was close to the popular tally for the Democrats. And in 1840
and 1848, the party captured the White House. Their only loss in
a presidential election during