The Also-Rans: Henry Clay
Poor Henry Clay. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. He ran for President in 1824 and again in 1832 and again in 1844. He lost every time. He wanted to run in 1840 and again in 1848, two years when he probably could have won. Instead, his party, the Whigs, decided that if the Democrats had won with a popular general (Andrew Jackson) then they could win with a popular general (choosing William Henry Harrison in 1840 and Zachary Taylor in 1848).
Born on April 12, 1777 in Hanover County, Virgina, Henry Clay was a man who certainly made his mark in American politics. Besides being a presidential candidate, he was also a very skilled lawyer (he once successfully defended Aaron Burr), a politician who represented Kentucky in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives, someone who served three different terms as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and someone who was also Secretary of State. He was reputed to be a very skilled orator.
As Speaker of the state house in Kentucky, Clay fought a duel with an aristocratic house member named Humphrey Marshall. On January 3, 1809, Clay introduced a resolution to require members to wear homespun suits rather than those made of imported British broadcloth. Marshall was one of two members who voted against the motion. It is said that Clay and Marshall nearly came to blows on the Assembly floor, and Clay challenged Marshall to a duel. The duel took place on January 9 in Shippingport, Kentucky. They each had three turns. Clay grazed Marshall once, just below the chest. Marshall hit Clay once in the thigh.
In 1811 Clay was elected to the US House of Representatives. He was chosen Speaker of the House on the first day of his first session, something never done before or since. During the next fourteen years he was re-elected five times to the House and to the speakership. Clay was a slaveholder and like other Southern Congressmen, Clay took slaves to Washington, DC to work in his household.
Clay was a dominant figure in Congress through many administrations. As a leading war hawk in 1812, he favored war with Britain and played a significant role in leading the nation to war in the War of 1812. In 1820 he helped negotiate the "Missouri Compromise", an arrangement which brought Maine into the union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state (thus maintaining the balance in the Senate, which had included 11 free and 11 slave states), and which forbade slavery north of 36° 30' (the northern boundary of Arkansas and the latitude line) except in Missouri.
In 1824 he ran for president and lost, finishing fourth behind Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams and William Crawford. With no candidate winning a majority of electoral votes, the election was decided by Congress. Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams, who subsequently appointed Clay to be Secretary of State. Jackson's supporters accused Adams and Clay of concluding a "corrupt bargain."
In 1829 Clay was the defendant in a lawsuit in which his slave Charlotte Dupuy sued Clay for her freedom and that of her two children, based on a promise by an earlier owner. Her legal challenge to slavery preceded the more famous Dred Scott case by 17 years. The "freedom suit" received a fair amount of attention in the press at the time. Dupuy's attorney gained an order from the court for her to remain in DC until the case was settled, and she worked for wages for 18 months for Martin Van Buren, Clay's successor as Secretary of State. The jury ruled against Dupuy, deciding that any agreement with her previous master Condon was not binding on Clay. Because Dupuy refused to return voluntarily to Kentucky, Clay had her arrested. She was imprisoned in Alexandria, Virginia before Clay arranged for her transport to New Orleans, where he placed her with his daughter and son-in-law Martin Duralde.
In 1832 Clay ran for President against Andrew Jackson. Clay lost by a wide margin to his highly popular opponent by a margin of 55% to 37%. He sought the nomination in 1840, but his party opted for former general William Henry Harrison. Clay thought that if he could not be elected president, he could at least yield presidential power. But Harrison refused to defer to Clay and when Harrison died a month into his term, his successor John Tyler also refused to cede power to Clay in what was a precedent setting case about the role of the Vice-President upon the death of a president.
Clay ran for president yet again in 1844. This time he thought he would win because the Democrats had nominated a defeated governor named James K. Polk from Tennessee. But Clay lost again, this time in part due to national sentiment in favor of Polk's expansionist campaign. Clay opposed admitting Texas as a state because he believed it would reawaken the slavery issue and provoke Mexico to declare war. Polk took the opposite view, supported by most of the public, especially in the Southern United States. The election was close. New York's 36 electoral votes proved the difference, and went to Polk by a slim 5,000 vote margin.
Clay opposed the Mexican-American War and the "Manifest Destiny" policy of Democrats. His son Henry Clay, Jr. was killed at the Battle of Buena Vista during that war. He once again sought the Whig Party nomination for president in 1848, but lost to Zachary Taylor who was elected president. Clay decided to retire to his Ashland estate in Kentucky. Retired for less than a year, in 1849 he was once again elected to the Senate. During his term, the controversy over the expansion of slavery in new lands had reemerged with the addition of the lands ceded to the United States by Mexico at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. On January 29, 1850, Clay proposed a series of resolutions, which he considered to reconcile Northern and Southern interests, what would widely be called the Compromise of 1850. Despite Clay's efforts, his proposal failed in a crucial vote on July 31 with the majority of his Whig Party opposed. Clay was physically exhausted as the tuberculosis that would eventually kill him began to take its toll. Clay left the Senate to recuperate in Newport, Rhode Island. Stephen A. Douglas separated the bills and guided them through the Senate.
On June 29, 1852, Henry Clay died of tuberculosis in Washington, D.C., at the age of 75. He freed all of his slaves in his will. In 1957, a Senate Committee selected Clay as one of the five greatest U.S. Senators, along with Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Robert La Follette, and Robert Taft.
Born on April 12, 1777 in Hanover County, Virgina, Henry Clay was a man who certainly made his mark in American politics. Besides being a presidential candidate, he was also a very skilled lawyer (he once successfully defended Aaron Burr), a politician who represented Kentucky in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives, someone who served three different terms as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and someone who was also Secretary of State. He was reputed to be a very skilled orator.
As Speaker of the state house in Kentucky, Clay fought a duel with an aristocratic house member named Humphrey Marshall. On January 3, 1809, Clay introduced a resolution to require members to wear homespun suits rather than those made of imported British broadcloth. Marshall was one of two members who voted against the motion. It is said that Clay and Marshall nearly came to blows on the Assembly floor, and Clay challenged Marshall to a duel. The duel took place on January 9 in Shippingport, Kentucky. They each had three turns. Clay grazed Marshall once, just below the chest. Marshall hit Clay once in the thigh.
In 1811 Clay was elected to the US House of Representatives. He was chosen Speaker of the House on the first day of his first session, something never done before or since. During the next fourteen years he was re-elected five times to the House and to the speakership. Clay was a slaveholder and like other Southern Congressmen, Clay took slaves to Washington, DC to work in his household.
Clay was a dominant figure in Congress through many administrations. As a leading war hawk in 1812, he favored war with Britain and played a significant role in leading the nation to war in the War of 1812. In 1820 he helped negotiate the "Missouri Compromise", an arrangement which brought Maine into the union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state (thus maintaining the balance in the Senate, which had included 11 free and 11 slave states), and which forbade slavery north of 36° 30' (the northern boundary of Arkansas and the latitude line) except in Missouri.
In 1824 he ran for president and lost, finishing fourth behind Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams and William Crawford. With no candidate winning a majority of electoral votes, the election was decided by Congress. Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams, who subsequently appointed Clay to be Secretary of State. Jackson's supporters accused Adams and Clay of concluding a "corrupt bargain."
In 1829 Clay was the defendant in a lawsuit in which his slave Charlotte Dupuy sued Clay for her freedom and that of her two children, based on a promise by an earlier owner. Her legal challenge to slavery preceded the more famous Dred Scott case by 17 years. The "freedom suit" received a fair amount of attention in the press at the time. Dupuy's attorney gained an order from the court for her to remain in DC until the case was settled, and she worked for wages for 18 months for Martin Van Buren, Clay's successor as Secretary of State. The jury ruled against Dupuy, deciding that any agreement with her previous master Condon was not binding on Clay. Because Dupuy refused to return voluntarily to Kentucky, Clay had her arrested. She was imprisoned in Alexandria, Virginia before Clay arranged for her transport to New Orleans, where he placed her with his daughter and son-in-law Martin Duralde.
In 1832 Clay ran for President against Andrew Jackson. Clay lost by a wide margin to his highly popular opponent by a margin of 55% to 37%. He sought the nomination in 1840, but his party opted for former general William Henry Harrison. Clay thought that if he could not be elected president, he could at least yield presidential power. But Harrison refused to defer to Clay and when Harrison died a month into his term, his successor John Tyler also refused to cede power to Clay in what was a precedent setting case about the role of the Vice-President upon the death of a president.
Clay ran for president yet again in 1844. This time he thought he would win because the Democrats had nominated a defeated governor named James K. Polk from Tennessee. But Clay lost again, this time in part due to national sentiment in favor of Polk's expansionist campaign. Clay opposed admitting Texas as a state because he believed it would reawaken the slavery issue and provoke Mexico to declare war. Polk took the opposite view, supported by most of the public, especially in the Southern United States. The election was close. New York's 36 electoral votes proved the difference, and went to Polk by a slim 5,000 vote margin.
Clay opposed the Mexican-American War and the "Manifest Destiny" policy of Democrats. His son Henry Clay, Jr. was killed at the Battle of Buena Vista during that war. He once again sought the Whig Party nomination for president in 1848, but lost to Zachary Taylor who was elected president. Clay decided to retire to his Ashland estate in Kentucky. Retired for less than a year, in 1849 he was once again elected to the Senate. During his term, the controversy over the expansion of slavery in new lands had reemerged with the addition of the lands ceded to the United States by Mexico at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War. On January 29, 1850, Clay proposed a series of resolutions, which he considered to reconcile Northern and Southern interests, what would widely be called the Compromise of 1850. Despite Clay's efforts, his proposal failed in a crucial vote on July 31 with the majority of his Whig Party opposed. Clay was physically exhausted as the tuberculosis that would eventually kill him began to take its toll. Clay left the Senate to recuperate in Newport, Rhode Island. Stephen A. Douglas separated the bills and guided them through the Senate.
On June 29, 1852, Henry Clay died of tuberculosis in Washington, D.C., at the age of 75. He freed all of his slaves in his will. In 1957, a Senate Committee selected Clay as one of the five greatest U.S. Senators, along with Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Robert La Follette, and Robert Taft.