Henry Clay

I'm finishing a book about Henry Clay. He lived in Lexington, Kentucky, about two hours from me. His house was called "Ashland". If you give your house a name, you probably have a pretty nice house. That seems to be how things work. After Daniel Boone, and maybe Coach Cal, he's Kentucky's main claim to fame. He's buried in a pretty impressive place, too. If I should ever die, I would like something like that - Big, impressive, and gaudy.

Last blog was about disappointments in life. He had quite a few. Even though he was rich and famous, he had some major low points. He ran for President four times. Zero for four.  A couple of those times, he deserved to win, but some underhanded doings did him in. Also, he had a lot of kids, but most of them died young. There were so many, I lost count. The fact that he kept his personal life together is impressive.

Lincoln gets a little too much credit in the Civil War era. There, I said it. Probably more than anyone, Clay kept the nation together in the decades leading up to the Civil War. He should have been President. Things might have turned out a lot better. How do you lose to Martin Van Buren, anyway?