Henry Clay

Henry Clay
Clay in 1848
9th United States Secretary of State
In office March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829
President	John Quincy Adams
Preceded by	John Quincy Adams
Succeeded by	Martin Van Buren
United States Senator from Kentucky
In office March 4, 1849 – June 29, 1852
Preceded by	Thomas Metcalfe
Succeeded by	David Meriwether
In office November 10, 1831 – March 31, 1842
Preceded by	John Rowan
Succeeded by	John J. Crittenden
In office January 4, 1810 – March 3, 1811
Appointed by	Charles Scott
Preceded by	Buckner Thruston
Succeeded by	George M. Bibb
In office December 29, 1806 – March 3, 1807
Preceded by	John Adair
Succeeded by	John Pope
7th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825
Preceded by	Philip P. Barbour
Succeeded by	John Taylor
In office March 4, 1815 – October 28, 1820
Preceded by	Langdon Cheves
Succeeded by	John Taylor
In office March 4, 1811 – January 19, 1814
Preceded by	Joseph Varnum
Succeeded by	Langdon Cheves
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky
In office March 4, 1823 – March 6, 1825
Preceded by	John Johnson
Succeeded by	James Clark
Constituency	3rd district
In office March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1821
Preceded by	Joseph H. Hawkins
Succeeded by	Samuel Woodson
Constituency	2nd district
In office March 4, 1811 – January 19, 1814
Preceded by	William T. Barry
Succeeded by	Joseph H. Hawkins
Constituency	2nd district (1813–1814) 5th district (1811–1813)
Personal details
Born	(1777-04-12)April 12, 1777 Hanover County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	June 29, 1852(1852-06-29) (aged 75) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Lexington Cemetery
Political party	Democratic-Republican (1797–1825) National Republican (1825–1833) Whig (1833–1852)
Spouse	Lucretia Hart ​ (m. 1799)​
Children	11, including Thomas, Henry Jr., James, John
Education	College of William & Mary
Signature

This article is part of a series about Henry Clay
Early law and political career Family U.S. Speaker of the House War of 1812 Second Bank of the United States Missouri Compromise U.S. Secretary of State Corrupt bargain U.S. Senator from Kentucky Nullification Crisis Bank War Whig Party Compromise of 1850 Presidential elections 1824 1832 1844 American System Ashland Clay's law office Charlotte Dupuy Great Triumvirate Death Lying in state
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Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 elections. He helped found both the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. For his role in defusing sectional crises, he earned the appellation of the "Great Compromiser" and was part of the "Great Triumvirate" of Congressmen, alongside fellow Whig Daniel Webster and Democrat John C. Calhoun. Clay died at the age of 75 in 1852.

Clay was born in Virginia, in 1777, and began his legal career in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1797. As a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Clay won election to the Kentucky state legislature in 1803 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1810. He was chosen as Speaker of the House in early 1811 and, along with President James Madison, led the United States into the War of 1812 against Great Britain. In 1814, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, which brought an end to the War of 1812, and then after the war, Clay returned to his position as Speaker of the House and developed the American System, which called for federal infrastructure investments, support for the national bank, and high protective tariff rates. In 1820 he helped bring an end to a sectional crisis over slavery by leading the passage of the Missouri Compromise. Clay finished with the fourth-most electoral votes in the multi-candidate 1824-1825 presidential election and used his position as speaker to help John Quincy Adams win the contingent election held to select the president. President Adams then appointed Clay to the prestigious position of secretary of state; as a result, critics alleged that the two had agreed to a "corrupt bargain".

Despite receiving support from Clay and other National Republicans, Adams was defeated by Democrat Andrew Jackson in the 1828 presidential election. Clay won election to the Senate in 1831 and ran as the National Republican nominee in the 1832 presidential election, but he was defeated decisively by President Jackson. After the 1832 election, Clay helped bring an end to the nullification crisis by leading passage of the Tariff of 1833. During Jackson's second term, opponents of the president including Clay, Webster, and William Henry Harrison created the Whig Party, and through the years, Clay became a leading congressional Whig.

Clay sought the presidency in the 1840 election but was passed over at the Whig National Convention in favor of Harrison. When Harrison died and his vice president John Tyler ascended to office in 1841, Clay clashed with Tyler, who broke with Clay and other congressional Whigs. Clay resigned from the Senate in 1842 and won the 1844 Whig presidential nomination, but he was narrowly defeated in the general election by Democrat James K. Polk, who made the annexation of the Republic of Texas his top issue. Clay strongly criticized the subsequent Mexican–American War and sought the Whig presidential nomination in 1848 but was passed over in favor of General Zachary Taylor who went on to win the election. After returning to the Senate in 1849, Clay played a key role in passing the Compromise of 1850, which postponed a crisis over the status of slavery in the territories. Clay was one of the most important and influential political figures of his era.^[1]