Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, Henry Clay's successor in border-state Whiggery, led a group of conservative, unionist congressmen in forming the Constitutional Union Party. At Crittenden's behest, fifty former and current members of Congress met in Washington, D.C. in December 1859, where they agreed to form a new party dedicated to preserving the union and avoiding debates over slavery. The new party received the blessing of the respective national committees of the Whig Party and the American Party, and was officially formed on February 12, 1860.