Clement Claiborne Clay

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Clement Claiborne Clay

Clement Claiborne Clay (born December 13, 1816 in Huntsville , Alabama , †  January 3, 1882 in Gurley , Alabama) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ). He represented the state of Alabama in the US Senate and in the Confederate Congress .

Clay came from a family that produced several well-known politicians. He was the eldest son of Clement Comer Clay , who was serving as Senator and Governor of Alabama; his cousin Henry Clay was the head of the Whig Party .

He attended and graduated from the University of Alabama in 1834. He earned a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1839 , after which he was inducted into the Alabama Bar the following year.

Politically, he was initially active in the House of Representatives from Alabama , to which he belonged in 1842, 1844 and 1845. Thereafter, Clay was from 1848 to 1850 judge in the District Court of Madison County . In 1850 he applied unsuccessfully for a seat in the US House of Representatives ; for this he was elected to the Senate in Washington in 1853 . Originally the term of office would have started there on March 4, 1853; Since the attempt of the state legislature of Alabama to elect a senator, but initially failed, Clay did not take up his mandate until November 29 of the same year.

After Alabama left the Union and joined the Confederate States , Clay resigned from the Senate on January 21, 1861. Instead, he was elected to the Confederate Senate, to which he belonged from 1862 to 1864 as a representative of Alabama. He was one of the short-lived state's most prominent politicians, which is why his portrait was also featured on the CSA one-dollar bill .

After the war, Clay was suspected of being involved in the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln . He and his wife, Virginia Clay, were imprisoned at Fort Monroe for a year . She later had an affair with Jefferson Davis , which became public.

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