Henry Clay, David S. Heidler
Henry Clay, David S. Heidler
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Henry Clay
The Essential American

Author: David S. Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler

Narrator: Jonathan Yen

Unabridged: 30 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 01/18/2018


Synopsis

He was the Great Compromiser, a canny and colorful legislator whose life mirrors the story of America from its founding until the eve of the Civil War. Speaker of the House, senator, secretary of state, five-time presidential candidate, and idol to the young Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is captured in full at last in this rich and sweeping biography.

David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler present Clay in his early years as a precocious, witty, and optimistic Virginia farm boy who at the age of twenty transformed himself into an attorney. The authors reveal Clay's tumultuous career in Washington, including his participation in the deadlocked election of 1824 that haunted him for the rest of his career, and shine new light on Clay's marriage to plain, wealthy Lucretia Hart, a union that lasted fifty-three years and produced eleven children.

Featuring an inimitable supporting cast including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln, Henry Clay is beautifully written and replete with fresh anecdotes and insights. Horse trader and risk taker, arm twister and joke teller, Henry Clay was the consummate politician who gave ground, made deals, and changed the lives of millions.

About David S. Heidler

David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler have collaborated on books about the early American republic, the Antebellum period, and the Civil War. Their editorial work includes Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 and the award-winning Encyclopedia of the American Civil War. They are the authors of Henry Clay: The Essential American; Old Hickory's War: Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire; The War of 1812; Manifest Destiny; Daily Life in the Early American Republic: Creating a New Nation,1790-1820; and The Mexican War.

In addition to their work as authors, the Heidlers are general editors of monographs on U.S. civil-military relations, American soldiers' lives, and life on the home front.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Joe on September 18, 2019

Henry Clay, (1777-1852), is a name many of us somewhat recognize from 19th Century U.S. politics. He was The Great Compromiser; the mastermind behind both The Compromise of 1820 and of 1850, both of which avoided a national calamity. With Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and South Carolina’s John C.......more

Goodreads review by robin on May 22, 2024

An Ideologue Of The Center David and Jeanne Heidler use the phrase "ideologue of the center"to describe Henry Clay in their biography: "Henry Clay, the Essential American". The Heidlers borrow this term from Daniel Walker Howe's study of pre-Civil War America, "What Hath God Wrought: The Transformati......more

Goodreads review by Arminius on May 25, 2015

The Essential American is Henry Clay. He is a former Speaker of the House, Senator, Secretary of State and Presidential Candidate. He also started the Whig Party. The Whig Party preceded the Republican Party as the Democratic Party’s main political rival party. Henry Clay was fortunate to have been......more

Goodreads review by Porter on November 12, 2019

I’m struggling with this review. If you know who Henry Clay was, then you know that he was one of the most powerful senators ever. You know that he is the only person to be elected Speaker of the House on his first day in Congress. You know that he was the “Great Compromiser” (a term used with admir......more

Goodreads review by Nooilforpacifists on May 06, 2016

Extraordinarily well written, moving biography. Interestingly, I now am more impressed with the authors and less impressed I am by Henry Clay. My prior take came from Howe's magisterial history of the first half of 19th Century in the Oxford series on American History. But there's more to the story.......more