Henry Clay, Sr.

Seventh Speaker of the House, 1825-1829 (intermittently). Ninth Secretary of State, 1811-1825.

Henry Clay was one of the most significant politicians in Kentucky and American history. Clay was born on April 12, 1777, in Ashland, Virginia. He studied law in Richmond, Virginia and finished his studies in 1797. He was a member and Speaker of the Kentucky legislature before joining national politics as a United States Senator in Kentucky and Representative in the United States House of Representatives in Kentucky. During all but one of his years of service in the U.S. House, he served as Speaker. Clay also served Secretary of State under President John Quincy Adams. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1824, 1832, and 1844. Among his other accomplishments, Clay is known for helping craft the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850, both of which enabled the continuation of slavery while postponing the dissolution of the Union. Clay resigned from the Senate in 1852 and died on June 29, 1852.

Source

Image is in the public domain, see Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Clay.JPG

Archival Materials

Henry Clay papers, University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center.