Senate in the regular way.

Both in Congress and in the Senate Clay always worked for what he
believed to be the best interests of his country. Ambition, which
so often causes men to turn aside from the paths of truth and
honor, had no power to tempt him to do wrong. He was ambitious to
be president, but would not sacrifice any of his convictions for
the sake of being elected. Although he was nominated by his party
three times, he never became president. It was when warned by a
friend that if he persisted in a certain course of political
conduct he would injure his prospects of being elected, that he
made his famous statement, "I would rather be right than be
president."

Clay has been described by one of his biographers as "a brilliant
orator, an honest man, a charming gentleman, an ardent patriot,
and a leader whose popularity was equaled only by that of Andrew
Jackson."

Although born in a state in which wealth and ancient ancestry were
highly rated, he was never ashamed of his birth or poverty. Once
when taunted by the aristocratic John Randolph with his lowly
origin, he proudly exclaimed, "I was born to no proud paternal
estate. I inherited only infancy, ignorance, and indigence."

He was born in Hanover County, Virginia, on April 12, 1777, and
died in Washington, June 29, 1852. With only the humble
inheritance which he claimed--"infancy, ignorance, and indigence"
--Henry Clay made himself a name that wealth and a long line of
ancestry could never bestow.