Introduction
"I would rather be right than be President"
-Henry Clay
"Am I not a man and a brother?"
-Anti-slavery slogan
-Henry Clay
"Am I not a man and a brother?"
-Anti-slavery slogan
Henry Clay is one of the greatest what-ifs of American history. A man who had such a massive impact on the United States never rose to be its leader, despite his many attempts. But what if Henry Clay had been elected President? If he had been able to implement his ambitious American System? If he had used the Presidency to fight against rising sectional tensions? The easiest way to get him into the White House is to change just a couple thousand votes in New York and Michigan in 1844, but that leaves him to contend with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. However, if the Whigs had decided to hold their 1839 convention six months later, Henry Clay would have triumphed at both the convention and against an unpopular Van Buren in the general election, and he would have had a friendly Congress to work with. And from there, a Third Bank of the United States is chartered, canals and railroads are built with Federal funding, and the U.S. never goes to war with Mexico.
But what would become of Texas? Of slavery and the south? Of America's growing industrial economy?
What if the man who declared 'I would rather be right than be President' got to be both?
Hi everyone and welcome to my second major timeline! I had originally intended to post this in the far future, once New Birth of Freedom was wrapped up, but as I kept writing I got impatient. So, without much further ado, I present The American System!