The Whig Party was a political party active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States. It emerged in the 1830s in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. In particular, the Whigs supported the supremacy of the US Congress over the Presidency and favored a program of modernization, banking, and economic protectionism to stimulate manufacturing.
Four US presidents belonged to the party while in office. Two were elected to office, General William Henry Harrison of Ohio in 1840 and Zachary Taylor in 1848. Two others were vice-presidents who reached the highest office upon the death of the president: John Tyler succeeded Harrison and Millar Fillmore succeeded Taylor.