In his personality, also, he reflected many of the traits of
this region. Kentucky, ardent in its spirit, not ashamed of a strain
of sporting blood, fond of the horse-race, partial to its whiskey,
ready to "bluff" in politics as in poker, but sensitive to honor,
was the true home of Henry Clay. To a Puritan like John Quincy
Adams, Clay was, "in politics, as in private life, essentially a
gamester."[Footnote: Adams, Memoirs, V., 59.] But if the Puritan
mind did not approve of Henry Clay, multitudes of his fellow-
countrymen in other sections did. There was a charm about him that
fastened men to him. He was "Harry of the West," an impetuous,
willful, high-spirited, daring, jealous, but, withal, a lovable man.
He had the qualities of leadership; was ambitious, impulsive, often
guided by his intuitions and his sensibilities, but, at the same
time, an adroit and bold champion of constructive legislation. He
knew, too, the time for compromise and for concession. Perhaps he
knew it too well; for, although no statesman of this era possessed
more courageous initiative and constructive power, his tact and his
powers of management were such that his place in history is quite as
much that of the "great compromiser" as it is that of the author of
the "American system.
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