Clay, Henry 1777-1852
US politician

Born in Hanover County, Virginia, the son of a Baptist preacher, at the age of 15 he became an assistant clerk in the chancery court of Virginia. In 1797 he was licensed to practise law, and went to Lexington, Kentucky. He entered the Lower House of Congress in 1811, and was chosen as Speaker, a post he filled for many years. As leader of the 'War Hawk' group he was active in bringing on the War of 1812 with Great Britain, and was one of the commissioners who arranged the Treaty of Ghent which ended it (1814). Because of his course regarding the Missouri Compromise of 1820 he was given the nickname of 'the great pacificator'. He was US Secretary of State (1825-29) and US senator (1831-42). In 1832 and 1844 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency. The compromise of 1850 between the opposing free-soil and pro-slavery interests, by which he attempted to avoid civil war, was largely Clay's work.

Bibliography: Glyndon G Van Deusen, The Life of Henry Clay (1937)