Henry Clay, Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852), is a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represents Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives.

He serves three different terms as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and is also Secretary of State from 1825 to 1829.

Clay is a dominant figure in both the First and Second Party systems.

As a leading war hawk, he favors war with Britain and plays a significant role in leading the nation to war in 1812.

Later he is involved in the "Corrupt Bargain" of 1824, after which he is appointed Secretary of State by newly elected President John Quincy Adams, earning the scorn of Andrew Jackson.

He is the foremost proponent of the American System, fighting for an increase in tariffs to foster industry in the United States, the use of federal funding to build and maintain infrastructure, and a strong national bank.

He opposes the annexation of Texas, fearing it will inject the slavery issue into politics.

Clay also opposes the Mexican-American War and the "Manifest Destiny" policy of Democrats, which costs him votes in the close 1844 election.

Clay makes numerous attempts at becoming president, making five serious runs.

He secures a major party nomination three of these times and loses all three elections.

Dubbed the "Great Pacificator," Clay brokers important compromises during the Nullification Crisis and on the slavery issue.

As part of the "Great Triumvirate" or "Immortal Trio," along with his colleagues Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun, he is instrumental in formulating the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850.

He is viewed as the primary representative of Western interests in this group, and is given the names "Henry of the West" and "The Western Star."

A plantation owner, Clay holds slaves during his lifetime but frees them in his Will.

Abraham Lincoln, the Whig leader in Illinois, is a great admirer of Clay, saying he is "my ideal of a great man."

Lincoln wholeheartedly supports Clay's economic programs.

In 1957, a Senate Committee selects Clay as one of the five greatest U.S.

Senators, along with Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Robert La Follette, and Robert Taft.