Henry Clay (1777–1852) was an American statesman and orator, called the “Great Compromiser” for his efforts to reconcile the North and the South. Even if he was a slave-owning politician who preferred the removal of blacks to Africa, he was one of the most powerful and important legislators of his time. For much of his political life, he wanted to be president, but was defeated three times; he once declared, “I would rather be right than be President.”
Born in a section of Hanover County, Virginia, known as “the Slashes,” Clay practiced law in Kentucky and served both in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives 1806–52.
Clay was one of the anti-British “war hawks” who supported the War of 1812. In 1820, he was instrumental in shaping the Missouri Compromise. This allowed Missouri to become a slave state but prohibited slavery in the remainder of the territory north of the southern boundary of Missouri. He also directed complex national provisions for “slave” and “free” states, which temporarily saved the nation from civil war for one decade.
From 1825 to 1829, Clay served as secretary of state under President John Quincy Adams. He was the Whig presidential candidate in 1844 but lost the election because of his position on the annexation of Texas.
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Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.
—Henry Clay
Yes, sir, from Constantinople, or from the Brazils; from Turk or christian; from black or white; from the dey of Algiers or the bey of Tunis; from the devil himself, if he wore a crown, we should receive a minister.
—Henry Clay
A nation’s character is the sum of its splendid deeds; they constitute one common patrimony, the nation’s inheritance. They awe foreign powers, they arouse and animate our own people.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Action
Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Character
In all the affairs of life, social as well as political, courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest to the grateful and appreciating heart.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Kindness
In a scheme of policy which is devised for a nation, we should not limit our views to its operation during a single year, or even for a short term of years. We should look at its operation for a considerable time, and in war as well as in peace.
—Henry Clay
Statistics are no substitute for judgment.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Decisions, Judgment, Facts, Statistics
There is no power like that of true oratory. Caesar controlled men by exciting their fears; Cicero, by captivating their affections and swaying their passions. The influence of the one perished with its author; that of the other continues to this day.
—Henry Clay
I would rather be right than be president.
—Henry Clay
Topics: Integrity
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