As the year 1777 marked the birth of the “Stars and Stripes”, so did it herald in another great American symbol, Henry Clay. It was also the year that the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in America. And as the Marquis huddled at Valley Forge with George Washington and his ragged army, the infant Henry slept in his mother’s arms, unaware of the struggles taking place to effect yet another birth - the United States of America.

It was this country that Henry Clay was destined to serve with a passion and ambition which has had few equals. He took up the study of law at an early age and...