White, Hugh Lawson, 1773–1840, American political leader, b. Iredell co., N.C. He moved (1787) to what is now E Tennessee and served in the wars against the Creek and Cherokee. He was (1793) secretary to Gov. William Blount, studied law in Lancaster, Ohio, and began (1796) practice in Knoxville, Tenn. He held various judicial offices in Tennessee and was a state senator (1807–9, 1817–25) before becoming a U.S. Senator in 1825. A supporter of Andrew Jackson and his policies, he split with the President when Jackson backed Martin Van Buren for President. White, in protest, ran (1836) for the presidency as a Whig party candidate and secured the electoral votes of Tennessee and Georgia. He resigned (1840) from the U.S. Senate after he fought, in opposition to the instructions of the Tennessee legislature, Van Buren's plan for the Independent Treasury System.
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