The Whig Party was a political party of the United States. It was famous during the years of Jacksonian democracy. It is thought to be important to the Second Party System. Operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed opposing the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party. The Whigs supported the importance of Congress over the importance of the executive branch. They favored a program of modernization. Their name was chosen to tell people about the American Whigs of 1776, who fought for independence. "Whig" was then a widely recognized label of choice for people who saw themselves as opposing autocratic rule. The Whig Party had national leaders as Daniel Webster, William Henry Harrison, Henry Clay of Kentucky. The Whig Party also had four war heroes among them, such as Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Abraham Lincoln was a Whig leader in frontier Illinois.