Henry Clay

Clay, Henry (1777–1852), U.S. statesman. Clay helped to create the Compromise of 1850, an attempt to reconcile North and South in the pre-Civil War period. He served as secretary of state under President John Quincy Adams (1825–29), ran unsuccessfully as the Whig party candidate for president in 1832 and 1844, and was a U.S. senator, 1849–52.

See also: Civil War, U.S.