43 Facts About Henry Clay

1. John Henry Clay designated his portion of the estate as Ashland Stud, which he devoted to breeding thoroughbred horses.

2. On June 29, 1852, Henry Clay died of tuberculosis in Washington, DC, at the age of 75 in his room at the National Hotel.

3. In December 1851, with his health declining, Henry Clay announced that he would resign from the Senate in September 1852.

4. Henry Clay was given much of the credit for the Compromise's success.

5. Henry Clay left the Senate to recuperate in Newport, Rhode Island.

6. Henry Clay announced on the Senate floor the next day that he intended to persevere and pass each individual part of the bill.

7. Henry Clay originally intended the resolutions to be voted on separately, but at the urging of southerners he agreed to the creation of a Committee of Thirteen to consider the measures.

8. On January 29, 1850, Henry Clay proposed a series of resolutions, which he considered to reconcile Northern and Southern interests, what would widely be called the Compromise of 1850.

9. Henry Clay acquired the help of Senator Stephen A Douglas, a first-term Democrat from Illinois, to help guide the measures through Congress and thus prevent civil war.

10. Henry Clay played a central role in designing a compromise in 1850 between North and South to resolve the increasingly dangerous slavery question.

11. Some of Henry Clay's friends proposed that he prepare to run in the 1852 presidential election, but Clay dismissed the possibility due to his declining health.

12. Henry Clay narrowly trailed Taylor after the first ballot of the 1848 Whig National Convention, and Taylor eventually won the presidential nomination on the fourth ballot.

13. In November 1847, Henry Clay delivered a speech that was harshly critical of the Mexican–American War and President Polk, signaling the start of his own 1848 candidacy.

14. Henry Clay refused to take a position on the annexation of Texas, as support for annexation would have offended the North and opposition would have offended the South.

15. Henry Clay quietly favored New York Congressman Millard Fillmore for the position, and made it clear that he did not want Webster as his running mate, as Clay was angered by Webster's association with Tyler.

16. Henry Clay initially viewed Webster as his strongest rival, but Clay, Harrison, and General Winfield Scott emerged as the principal candidates at the 1839 Whig National Convention.

17. Henry Clay quickly became a major opponent of the Jackson administration and continued to enjoy the reputation of a great public speaker.

18. Henry Clay was humiliated that he finished behind the invalid Crawford and Jackson, but supporters of the three remaining presidential candidates immediately began courting his support for the House vote.

19. Henry Clay supported the Greek independence revolutionaries in 1824 who wished to separate from the Ottoman Empire, an early move into European affairs.

20. Henry Clay supported the Monroe Doctrine, which called for the non-intervention of European powers in the Americas, though Clay was not as pleased with the part of the Monroe Doctrine that called for American non-intervention in European affairs.

21. In foreign policy, Henry Clay was the leading American supporter of independence movements and revolutions in Latin America after 1817.

22. Henry Clay became so bitter that he refused to allow Monroe's inauguration to take place in the House Chamber, and subsequently did not attend Monroe's outdoor inauguration.

23. Henry Clay was offered the position of Secretary of War in the Madison and Monroe administrations.

24. Henry Clay passed the Bonus Bill of 1817, which would have provided a fund for internal improvements, but Madison vetoed the bill on constitutional concerns.

25. Henry Clay eagerly embraced this program, which had much in common with Federalist proposals of the past.

26. Henry Clay was part of a team of five commissioners, which included Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin, Senator James Bayard, ambassador Jonathan Russell, and ambassador John Quincy Adams, the nominal head of the American team.

27. Henry Clay was reluctant to leave Congress, but felt duty-bound to accept the offer, and so he resigned from Congress on January 19, 1814, and prepared to travel to Europe.

28. Henry Clay was chosen Speaker on the first day of his first session, something never done before or since.

29. Henry Clay was one of several young Representatives elected in the 1810 elections.

30. Henry Clay joined the United States House of Representatives in 1811.

31. Henry Clay advocated the annexation of West Florida, which the Spanish claimed.

32. In support of Jefferson's policy, Henry Clay introduced a resolution to require members to wear homespun suits rather than those made of imported British broadcloth.

33. On December 29, 1806, Henry Clay was sworn in as senator, serving for slightly more than two months During his brief tenure, Clay advocated for the construction of various bridges and canals, including a canal connecting the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River.

34. Henry Clay clashed with legislators who sought to reduce the power of Clay's Bluegrass Region, and Clay unsuccessfully advocated moving the state capitol from Frankfort to Lexington.

35. Henry Clay introduced the Hereford livestock breed to the United States.

36. Henry Clay held 60 slaves at the peak of operations, and likely produced tobacco and hemp, the two chief commodity crops of the Bluegrass Region.

37. Henry Clay was admitted to the Virginia Bar to practice law in 1797.

38. Henry Clay adopted Wythe's negative views on slavery, though Clay continued to own slaves throughout his life.

39. Henry Clay was viewed as the primary representative of Western interests in this group, and was nicknamed "Harry of the West" and "The Western Star".

40. Henry Clay continued to advocate his American System, and mobilized the opposition to President Jackson and his new Democratic Party.

41. Henry Clay moved onto the national scene with two brief stints in the Senate, and election to the House of Representatives in 1810; he promptly was elected Speaker.

42. Henry Clay was one of a handful of national leaders to actively work from 1811 to the 1850s, defining the issues, proposing nationalistic solutions and creating the Whig Party.

43. Henry Clay served four separate terms in the Senate, including stints from 1831 to 1842 and from 1849 to 1852.