Who served as Vice-President of the United States from South Carolina (1829-1833) and authored the Doctrine of Nullification in 1828 after being a nationalist?

• A. John C. Calhoun
• B. Daniel Webster
• C. Robert Hayne
• D. Andrew Jackson

Answer: (A)

Nullification and the debate over federal vs. state authority is at the heart of this question. John C. Calhoun fits best because he was a South Carolina native who served as Vice-President during Andrew Jackson’s presidency (1829–1833). Though he began as a nationalist who trusted a strong federal union, he authored the formal Doctrine of Nullification in 1828—most often tied to his Exposition and Protest—arguing that states could declare federal laws unconstitutional and void them within their borders. This stance made him the leading advocate of states’ rights during the crisis. By contrast, Daniel Webster was a Massachusetts nationalist who defended the Union and opposed nullification; Robert Hayne supported states’ rights but did not author the doctrine, and Andrew Jackson, though central to the crisis, was the president who opposed nullification rather than its author.