Medalet promoting Henry Clay for president, 1844. Brass. DeWitt HC 1844-37. Holed for suspension. OBV: Bust of Clay to left; above, HENRY CLAY/ THE FARMER OF ASHLAND; below, BORN APRIL 12, 1777. REV: Inscription, THE NOBLE/ &/ PATRIOTIC/ SUPPORTER/ OF THE/ PEOPLES RIGHTS, enclosed in flowering wreath.
If any man ever desserved to be president, Henry Clay was that man. Running in every election going back to 1832, he helped found the Whig Party, and in 1844 was nominated by acclamation. In light of his stature in the Senate (he had drafted the Missouri Compromise), and his international renoun as a diplomat (he negotiated the Treaty of Ghent), his supporters viewed his election all but preordained. But in a stunning upset, he narrowly lost to the darkhorse James Polk, his presidential aspirations never to be realized.
We offer a choice example of an original Henry Clay medalet minted for his 1844 campaign.
