The quest to understand American history is a lifelong pursuit, but it is worth struggling to understand how American ideals are constantly reinterpreted. Part of immersing yourself in American history is to read the biographies of past leaders from generals to Presidents. However this recent biography is an exemplary look at Henry Clay (1777-1852), one of the towering figures of the United States Congress. Clay would define the position of House Speaker, and set in motion many rules that we take for granted today. Examples include the dominant party, those with the most seats, setting the agenda of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Henry Clay was also known as ‘‘The Great Compromiser,” yet the compromise he engineered to accommodate slavery in an expanding United States would fail and lead to the American Civil War.

The couple, David and Jeanne Heidler, teaches history in Colorado, one at Colorado State University, and the other at the United States Air Force Academy. They have written six books on American history before the Civil War, to include a volume on the wars of Andrew Jackson, the Mexican War, and the War of 1812. This latest work takes us into the life of Henry Clay, and his ascent to the pinnacle of the Congress. Through this biography and life we understand the practice of law, issues, and problems of the newly independent United States. Clay was born in 1777; the nation was still in the midst of the American Revolutionary War. He would learn the law under George Wythe, the same instructor who taught Thomas Jefferson and would depart his native Virginia to make a new life in Kentucky. In 1803, he would be elected to the Kentucky House of Representative, and would advocate the gradual emancipation of slaves in Kentucky. Clay would challenge a fellow state legislator Humphrey Marshall to duel in 1809, both men would be wounded.

While Clay served in the United States Senate in 1806 and 1810 for a brief period, before being elected as Congressman in 1811, and would remain in Congress both in the House and Senate until his death in 1852. He would also serve as Secretary of State while retaining his Congressional seat, rules of the time allowed him to do this. Readers will follow Clay and the nation through the War of 1812, the constant debate over slavery, the Missouri Compromise, the Nullification Crisis, and the creation of the Whig Party. More importantly you will be treated to the relationship between Congress and several Presidents’ from Thomas Jefferson when Clay served in the Senate for one year to Millard Fillmore who was President when Clay died in 1852. You will also understand the relationship of several powerhouses in the Congress, Clay debated with such influential giants as John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts (nicknamed Old Man Eloquent), and many other personalities like President Andrew Jackson whose relationship with Congress was fiery.

The Heidler’s have done a magnificent job, and the writing itself is quite a treat, with eloquent sentences and quotations. Clay would be the first person to lay in state at the U.S. Capitol, and would also reside at Decatur House (currently a museum that you can visit in downtown Washington DC) across from Lafayette Square as Secretary of State, creating a tradition of the home of the U.S. Navy hero of the Barbary Wars being the home of the U.S. Secretary of State until 1833. This will no doubt be an important work of American history in 2010 and is highly recommended for those with an interest in Constitutional history, American history, Congressional history, events leading to the American Civil War, and the administrations of Presidents’ such as Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, and Polk to name a few.

Editor’s Note: Cmdr. Aboul-Enein is author of ‘‘Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat,” published this summer by Naval Institute Press. He also teaches part-time at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Commander Aboul-Enein has a passion for American history, and maintains a regular column in the Naval District Washington newspaper, Waterline.