[Presidential][Henry Clay] 1844 Campaign Letter Meeting of the Clay Club, Bennington, Vermont, July 30th, 1844

Bennington, Vermont, 1844. [Presidential][Henry Clay] 1844 Campaign Letter Meeting of the Clay Club, Bennington, Vermont, July 30th, 1844

Manuscript letter measure 8 x 10 inches; recto only. Previous folds. Light toning and moisture soiling to lower left corner. Good condition.

Henry Clay (1777-1852) was a lawyer and statesman from the state of Kentucky. During a long political career, Clay served in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives where he was the seventh House speaker from 1823 to 1825. He also served as the ninth secretary of state from 1825-1829 under John Quincy Adams. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 elections.

This manuscript note dated July 30th, 1844, from Bennington Vermont invites Jas. V. Porter to attend the "Clay Club" meeting on August 16th. A quick search on newspapers.com finds over 5500 mentions of Clay Club meetings in 1844. Clay Clubs formed with the express purpose of electing Henry Clay as President in 1844 against James K. Polk. Polk won 49.5% of the popular vote and 170 of the 275 electoral votes with the annexation of Texas a major issue of the campaign.

Nice little ephemeral piece of Presidential politics from 1844.