Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/348

290 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS there was a warm dispute in the senate over his confirmation, and it was defeated at length by the casting-vote of Calhoun. This check only strength ened Jackson s determination to have Van Buren for his successor in the presidency. The progress of this quarrel entailed a break in the "kitchen cabinet," in which Duff Green, editor of the Tele graph and friend of Calhoun, was thrown out. His place was taken by Francis Preston Blair, of Kentucky, a man of eminent ability and earnest patriotism. To him and his sons, as energetic op ponents of nullification and secession, our country owes a debt of gratitude which can hardly be over stated. Blair s indignant attitude toward nulli fication brought him at once into earnest sympathy with Jackson. In December, 1830, Blair began publishing the Globe, the organ henceforth of Jackson s party. For a period of ten years, until the defeat of the Democrats in 1840, Blair and Kendall were the ruling spirits in the administra tion. Their policy was to re-elect Jackson to the presidency in 1832, and make Van Buren his suc cessor in 1836. During Jackson s administration there came about a new division of parties. The strict con- structionists, opposing internal improvements, pro tective tariff, and national banks, retained the name of Democrats, which had long been applied to members of the old Republican party. The term