Henry Clay was born on April 12, 1777, at the Clay homestead in Hanover County, Virginia. He was the seventh of nine children born to the Reverend John Clay and Elizabeth (née Hudson) Clay. Almost all of Henry's older

Legal career
In November 1797, Clay relocated to Lexington, Kentucky, near where his parents and siblings resided. The Bluegrass region, with Lexington at its center, had quickly grown in the preceding decades but had only

As secretary of state, Clay was the top foreign policy official in the Adams administration, but he also held several domestic duties, such as oversight of the patent office. Clay came to

In December 1851, with his health declining, Clay announced that he would resign from the Senate the following September. Clay never recovered from his illnesses, and died of

On April 11, 1799, Clay married Lucretia Hart (1781-1864) at the Hart home in Lexington, Kentucky. Her father, Colonel Thomas Hart, was an early settler of Kentucky and a prominent businessman. Hart proved to be an important business connection for Clay, as he

Election and leadership
The 1810-11 elections produced many young, anti-British members of Congress who, like Clay, supported going to war with Great Britain. Buoyed by

Jackson administration, 1829–1837
Return to the Senate
Even with Clay out of office, President Jackson continued to see Clay as one of his major rivals, and Jackson at one point suspected Clay of being behind the Petticoat affair,