Henry Clay

This is an excellent biography of one of the great figures of American political history. For forty-six years Clay served the people of Kentucky and the people of the United States of America. He served as a Senator, a Congressman, and Secretary of State. In his time he made powerful enemies such as the formidable Andrew Jackson. He also made friends such as Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun. Though Clay would eventually break with both over policy issues these three men would dominate the Senate for many years.

Harlow Giles Unger has given us a well written introduction to both Clay and the era. With any biography of an important person there will always be something that they readers wants to know more about. The relationship between Clay, Webster, and Calhoun is touched on, but there is so much more to learn. Most of all I wished that the book had taken a deeper look into Clay's views and actions on slavery. Unger mentions that Clay disliked slavery. Yet Clay owned slaves. He also mentioned that Clay often freed his own slaves. Then he would purchase more. This struck me as curious and I wished that I knew more.

All in all this is a very readable book. You do not need to have a knowledge of the time period, but it does help. I recommend this book to everyone with an interest in this fascinating and important period of American History.