David M. Shribman: The reconciliation of Daniel Webster By David M. Shribman Daniel Webster finally is in the White House. Until Joseph R. Biden Jr. put a bust of him in the Oval Office, Webster never inhabited the executive mansion, though he tried repeatedly between 1832 and 1852 to win the presidency. He was, to be sure, a constant presence there — as secretary of state to three presidents; as one of the towering congressional figures, along with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, of his time; as a principal in all the important issues of his era. The closest he came to living in the White House was his brick house, right across the street, on a site now occupied by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.