HENRY CLAY AND THE ART OF AMERICAN POLITICS

by Clement Eaton ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 1956

Beginning with his politicking in local Kentucky affairs and his brief appointment at 29 to fill a Senate vacancy, Clay's public life was a continual surge to fame. On both floors of Congress and as Secretary of State, Clay steadily deepened and enlarged the shadow he cast over his era. The mystery is that he missed the Presidency. Eaton's keen, painstaking reappraisal goes far toward clearing away this puzzle and determining the weaknesses and contrarieties which made up the man. His enlightened stand on the slavery question, his support of the small powers emerging in Latin America and his early opposition to the system of patronage were accompanied by his views on protectionism and his eagerness to feather his own nest through new banking institutions. The impression created by Eaton is that Clay straddled both the outworn traditions of American policy and the principles as yet barely formulated. He was an anachronism so hopelessly out of step that his presidential campaign minimized the major issue of the day --annexation of Texas -- and thereby, in Eaton's opinion, cost Clay the election. Sound and perceptive rather than brilliant.

Pub Date: March 14, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION