Henry Clay And John Quincy Adams example essay topic

Kelley Briggs John Benton History 201 December 2, 2003 Henry Clay and the "Corrupt Bargain" Henry Clay was an American statesman for nearly two-thirds of his entire life. His remarkable skills as a political negotiator earned him the title of the Great Compromiser. Clay's most popular compromises involved reconciling the hostile arguments over slave-ownership between the Northern and Southern states in the early 1800's. Clay was known to be charismatic, a great leader, and to have a panache for oratory. These traits made him one of the most idolized men of his era. Henry Clay was born on April 12, 1777, on a farm in Hanover County, Virginia.

He was born to a middle-class family who resided in a neighborhood known as "The Slashes". His biological father passed away when Clay was still very young. Although he received very little formal education, he was able to study law under George Wythe and set up his own lucrative law practice in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky is where he established a reputation for himself as a great leader and orator. In fact, his reputation was so great that in 1803, it gained him a seat in Kentucky's state legislature. Clay was elected to his first term in the United States House of Representatives in 1811.

He proved himself to be an effective speaker and leader immediately. As a result, Henry Clay was selected to be Speaker of the House on the first day of the session. He was re-elected for all five of his subsequent terms. In addition to the twelve years Clay served in the House, he also spent almost twenty years working in the U.S. Senate. During the early part of Henry Clay's political career he focused on formulating his "American System", which was a national program that included federal aid for internal improvements and tariff protection for American industries. He was the politician who engineered and pushed the Missouri Compromise through the House of Representatives in 1820-21.

These key pieces of legislature proved to be the supporting part of his political career that would push him towards presidential candidacy. The Missouri Compromise was substantial to his early campaign, because although Clay was himself a slave owner, his views on slavery were conservative enough that he was able to command the backing of men with fear of radical slave-ownership. Henry Clay ran for the presidency of the United States a total of five times, but he never won. His first attempt in 1824 was perhaps the most infamous and controversial. It was the first presidential election in which the winner of the popular vote did not become the President.

The four political candidates were Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay. All four candidates received Electoral votes, but none received enough votes to constitute a majority. Since there was not a majority, the decision for president became the responsibility of the U.S. House of Representatives, but not without a few changes to list of candidates. In accordance with the Constitution, Clay was dropped from the list since he held the smallest amount of Electoral votes.

William H. Crawford suffered a stroke and was therefore believed to be unfit. Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams were the candidates left remaining in the competition. It became Clay's obligation to vote for one of his rivals. In correspondence shared with friends and colleagues, Clay discussed his dilemma. Both of the remaining candidates sought to court Clay for his favor. Jackson petitioned Clay for his vote using his political agenda for support.

Adams wrote Clay numerous letters speaking of compliments and possible collaborations. Andrew Jackson's Western interests and the entreaties of the Kentucky legislature to vote for Jackson should have swayed Clay. Yet despite this, Clay could not ignore his passionate dislike for Jackson. Clay agreed to support Adams with his vote.

Between the two of them, John Quincy Adams won the majority within the House of Representatives. Later, John Quincy Adams offered Henry Clay the appointment of Secretary of State, which was an office seen as a stepping stone to the presidency. When he accepted the office, friends and political allies of Andrew Jackson accused Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams of a "corrupt bargain". They charged Adams with corruption and Clay with political collusion. Clay became labeled the "Judas of the West", a biblical reference to Clay's supposedly traitorous actions against his Western colleagues. In fact the charges were unfair, since no evidence has been found to substantiate them, and most historians view them as false.

Historians doubt that Adams solicited Clay's support by offering him the office, because that action would have been completely incongruous with Adams' nature. It was evident that John Quincy Adams lacked poor political judgment in this instance. Also, regardless of the truth, the damage was still done to Clay's future political ventures. This unfortunate situation in Clay's first candidacy for the presidency reflected sorrowfully on the remainder of his life in the public eye. In the following years, Henry Clay was responsible for the passing of multiple pieces of valuable legislature and brought about multiple compromises. He even managed to delay the country's greatest crisis yet of the American Civil War with the Compromise of 1850.

He also became the leader of the new Whig party during Andrew Jackson's administration. Clay continued to vehemently oppose Jackson throughout his Presidency. Clay's close defeat in the presidential election of 1844 was perhaps the most heartbreaking event in the later portion of his career. He only lost the race due to his reluctance to annex Texas, which lost him his support in the Southern states. Henry Clay died in Washington, D.C., in June 1852.

He was know to be the author of the statement, "I would rather be right than be president".

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Schurz, Carl. American Statesman. Boston: The Riverside Press, 1887.