Definition of turnbuckle. : a device that usually consists of a link with screw threads at both ends, that is turned to bring the ends closer together, and that is used for tightening a rod or stay.
Such splintering had not yet led to formal party organization, but later the faction led by Andrew Jackson would evolve into the Democratic Party, while the factions led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay would become the National Republican Party and later the Whig Party.
Henry Clay found that support for the National Republicans was largely confined to New England, his home state of Kentucky and some areas in the Mid-Atlantic states. He attempted to bolster his position by selecting an official of the Bank of the United States as his running mate.