Webster

Read Loomis’ nice essay on Daniel Webster. Webster is among the most forgotten of the forgotten legislative titans of the 19th century, although I think that, outside of Lexington, even Henry Clay isn’t getting a lot of press these days. It’s certainly interesting to think about what would have happened if Webster had accepted the vice-presidency and thus assumed the Presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison, and it’s hard to argue that things could have turned out worse for the United States (allowing, as always, that James K. Polk was at least competent).

Probably for related reasons, the 1941 version of The Devil and Daniel Webster, directed by William Deterle, seems to receive very minimal attention in discussions of the best films of the 1940s. After CK and a couple of others, it’s probably my favorite film from the era.