page_title: Henry Clay
section_title: Jackson administration, 1829–1837
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Clay / Later career / Jackson administration, 1829–1837
caption_attribution_description: English: Oil on canvas portrait of Henry Clay by Henry F. Darby (1829-1897) Height: 49.25 inches (125.1 cm) Width: 39.75 inches (101 cm) Signature (lower right corner): H. F. DARBY Cat. no. 32.00002.000
context_page_description: Henry Clay Sr. was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the Senate and House. He was the seventh House Speaker and the ninth Secretary of State. He received electoral votes for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 presidential elections. He also helped found both the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. For his role in defusing sectional crises, he earned the appellation of the "Great Compromiser" and was part of the "Great Triumvirate."
  Clay was born in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1777 and launched a legal career in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1797. As a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Clay won election to the Kentucky state legislature in 1803 and to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1810. He was chosen as Speaker of the House in early 1811 and, along with President James Madison, led the United States into the War of 1812 against Britain. In 1814, he helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, which brought an end to the War of 1812.
caption: Portrait of Henry Clay
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