And it is remarkable, that in England it has grown obsolete, not having been used for upward of a century. How did we unhappily get involved in this war? It was predicted as the consequence of the annexation of Texas to the United States. If we had not Texas, we should have no war. The people were told that if that event happened, war would ensue. They were told that the war between Texas and Mexico had not been terminated by a treaty of peace; that Mexico still claimed Texas as a revolted province: and that, if we received Texas in our Union, we took along with her, the war existing between her and Mexico.
And the Minister of Mexico [Juan N. He introduced Hereford Cattle to the United States and became one of the most successful providers of mules to the South. His success as a breeder drew the attention and admiration of the best horsemen in the country at that time. The blood of his horses still runs in the best Thoroughbreds today. He owned the first syndicated Thoroughbred stallion in America.
Henry Clay influenced a great many future political leaders with his ideology and style. Henry Clay gave his country nearly half a century of service as a Representative, Senator, and Secretary of State. When Adams won the presidency, he appointed Clay as his Secretary of State. The appointment came, however, at some personal cost to Clay.
With neither Jackson nor Adams able to secure enough electoral votes, the election was thrown to the House of Representatives. Clay parked his support behind Adams with the understanding that he'd have a place in his cabinet. When he received it, Clay's critics blasted him, with a cry of "bargain and sale. The attacks continued into the Adams presidency. Jackson, stung by the defeat, blocked several foreign-policy initiatives put forth by Clay, including securing a trade agreement with Great Britain over the West Indies and sending delegates to a Pan American Congress in Panama.
The backlash against his support for Adams reached its apex when Congressman John Randolph challenged Clay to a duel. Neither man was hurt. In , Jackson captured the presidency from Adams.
With Clay's National Republican Party coming apart at the seams—it would eventually become absorbed by the Whig Party—Clay retired from politics and returned to Kentucky. But Clay was unable to stay away from Washington. In , he came back to Washington, D. The following year he headed the National Republicans' bid to unseat Jackson. At the center of the presidential election was Clay's support for the renewal of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States, whose creation in Clay had fought hard for.
But the issues around it proved to be Clay's undoing. Jackson vehemently opposed the bank and the renewal of its charter. He alleged it was a corrupt institution and had helped steer the nation toward higher inflation.
The voters sided with him. After the election Clay remained in the Senate, taking on Jackson and becoming the head of the Whig Party. The decade following his loss to Jackson for the presidency proved to be a frustrating period for Clay. In , he had every reason to expect to be nominated as the Whigs' candidate for the White House. He did little to hide his frustration when the party turned to General William Henry Harrison , who selected John Tyler as his running mate. After Harrison's death just a month into his presidency, Clay tried to dominate Tyler and his administration, but his actions proved futile.
In , he retired from the Senate and again returned to Kentucky. And in his race against James Polk, Clay opposed the annexation of Texas , sealing his defeat in the face of national obsession with manifest destiny. For his last hurrah, Clay returned to the issue of slavery. Together with Senators Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and Calhoun—the trio known as the Great Triumvirate —Clay put together an omnibus bill addressing several heated disputes, among them the admission of California as a state; the creation of the Utah and New Mexico territories; and the status of the Fugitive Slaves Act.
Although the Compromise of did not prevent civil war, it delayed confrontation for several years. Henry Clay died of tuberculosis on June 29, , still serving as a United States Senator from his beloved home state of Kentucky. He was laid in state at the Capitol—the first to be honored as such—and ultimately laid to rest in Lexington. Nicandro Iannacci is a web content strategist at the National Constitution Center.
Toggle navigation. Addressing his fellow lawmakers soon after his first selection, Clay said: I am sensible of the imperfections which I bring along with me, and a consciousness of these would deter me from attempting a discharge of the duties of the chair, did I not rely confidently upon your support. Should the rare and delicate occasion present itself when your speaker should be called upon to check or control the wanderings or intemperances in debate, your justice will, I hope, ascribe to his interposition the motives only of public good and a regard to the dignity of the house.
His long and eventful life is closed. Our country is prosperous and powerful; but could it have been quite all it has been, and is, and is to be, without Henry Clay?
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