President Henry Clay: The Great Pacificator

Here's an unlikely supposition I want to put on the table. What if Henry Clay won the Whig nomination and later the presidency in 1848, becoming our oldest president? Even in 1850 of OTL, he was politically active in his attempts to reconcile the dispute between the North and the South, so considering that he, as president, would push reconciliation is not entirely far-fetched.

Would the American Civil War occur later, or not at all, if he was able to take a stand for the compromises of union?

I could see the conflict staying just below boiling point long enough for the European demand for American cotton to drop and the slave system to become unnecessary. This would allow the US government to bend to foreign political pressure and flatly abolish slavery some time later in the century; likely around the same time as Brazil.

What have you got to say about this man who was endlessly cheated out of his presidential prize? :p

Ump-bay!
 
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