Editing Henry Clay (section)

===Harrison and Tyler administrations, 1841–1845===
{{See also|Presidency of William Henry Harrison|Presidency of John Tyler|27th United States Congress}}

President-elect Harrison asked Clay to serve another term as Secretary of State, but Clay chose to remain in Congress. Webster was instead chosen as Secretary of State, while [[John J. Crittenden]], a close ally of Clay, was chosen as Attorney General.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|p=328}} As Harrison prepared to take office, Clay and Harrison clashed over the leadership of the Whig Party, with Harrison sensitive to accusations that he would answer to Clay.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=334–335}} Just a month into his presidency, Harrison died of an illness and was succeeded by Vice President John Tyler.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=263–264}} Tyler retained Harrison's Cabinet, but the former Democrat and avid follower of both [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson's]] and Jackson's philosophy quickly made it known that he had reservations about re-establishing a national bank, a key priority of Clay's.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=342–343}} Clay nonetheless initially expected that Tyler would approve the measures passed by the Whig-controlled Congress; his priorities included the re-establishment of the national bank, higher tariff rates, a national bankruptcy law, and an act to distribute the proceeds of land sales to the states for investments in infrastructure and education. Clay and his congressional allies attempted to craft a national bank bill acceptable to Tyler, but Tyler vetoed two separate bills to re-establish the national bank, showing that he in fact had no will to reach a solution for the party's issues. Clay and other Whig leaders were now outraged not only by Tyler's rejection of the Whig party platform but also because they felt that Tyler had purposely misled them into thinking that he would sign the bills.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=265–269}}

After the second veto, congressional Whigs voted to expel Tyler from the party, and on Clay's request, every Cabinet member except for Webster, who wanted to continue negotiating the [[Webster-Ashburton Treaty]] with Great Britain about the border to Canada, resigned from office.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=351–353}} This made Tyler increasingly move closer to his former Democratic Party and, with Webster still serving in the Tyler administration, Clay emerged as the clear leader of the Whig Party.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=270–271}} In early 1842, Clay resigned from the Senate after arranging for Crittenden to succeed him.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=362–363}} Though he vetoed other Whig bills, Tyler did sign some Whig priorities into law, including the [[Preemption Act of 1841]], which distributed the proceeds of land sales to the states, and the Bankruptcy Act of 1841, which was the first law in U.S. history that allowed for voluntary bankruptcy.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=592–593}} Facing a large budget deficit, Tyler also signed the [[Tariff of 1842]], which restored the protective rates of the Tariff of 1832 but ended the distribution policy that had been established with the Preemption Act of 1841.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=103–108}}

====1844 presidential election====
{{Main|1844 United States presidential election|1844 Whig National Convention}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1844.svg|thumb|upright=1|James K. Polk defeated Clay in the 1844 election.]]

President Tyler's break with the Whig Party, combined with Webster's continuing affiliation with Tyler, positioned Clay as the leading contender for the Whig nomination in the [[1844 United States presidential election|1844 presidential election]].{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=358–359}} By 1842, most observers believed that Clay would face Van Buren in the 1844 presidential election, as he had still remained as the clear leader of the Democrats and, following the tradition of the founders, wanted a second term.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=290–291}} Hoping to win another term, President Tyler forged an alliance with John C. Calhoun and pursued the [[Texas annexation|annexation]] of the [[Republic of Texas]], which would add another slave state to the union.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=293–294}} After President Tyler concluded an annexation treaty with Texas, Clay announced his opposition to annexation.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=383, 385–386}} He argued that the country needed "union, peace, and patience," and annexation would bring tensions over slavery and war with Mexico. The same day that Clay published a letter opposing the annexation of Texas,{{Efn|According to local tradition, the famous "Raleigh Letter" of April 17, 1844 was written under the shade of a large white oak which became known as the [[Henry Clay Oak]].<ref>Murray, Elizabeth Reid (2006). [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofno0000unse_p4u7/page/558/mode/2up?view=theater "Henry Clay Oak"]. Powell, William S. (ed.). ''Encyclopedia of North Carolina''. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 559–560.</ref>}} Van Buren also came out against annexation, citing similar reasons as Clay, so that slavery and especially expansionism seemed to play no role in the next election.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=296–298}}{{efn|Some writers have come to the conclusion that Clay and Van Buren had reached an agreement to jointly oppose annexation, but Klotter writes that "no real evidence" supports this conclusion.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|p=298}}}} Clay unanimously won the presidential nomination at the [[1844 Whig National Convention]], but a minority of expansionist Southern Democrats, encouraged by Tyler's alternative outline, blocked Van Buren's nomination at the [[1844 Democratic National Convention]] for countless ballots, until Van Buren withdrew, making place for an unexpected compromise candidate: The party nominated former Speaker of the House [[James K. Polk]] of Tennessee, who favored annexation, but in order to calm anti-expansionists, promised to just run for a single term.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=387–388}} Following the nomination of a pro-annexation Democrat, Tyler soon ended his incipient independent run for president and endorsed Polk.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=239–241}}

Clay was surprised by Van Buren's defeat but remained confident of his chances in the 1844 election.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|pp=388–389}} Polk was the first "[[dark horse]]" presidential nominee in U.S. history, and Whigs mocked him as a "fourth rate politician." Despite his relative lack of national stature, Polk proved to be a strong candidate capable of uniting the factions of the Democratic Party and winning the support of Southerners who had been reluctant to support Van Buren.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=302–303}} Clay's stance on slavery alienated some voters in both the North and the South. Pro-slavery Southerners flocked to Polk, while many Northern [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]]s, who tended to align with the Whig Party, favored [[James G. Birney]] of the [[Liberty Party (United States, 1840)|Liberty Party]].{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=307–309}} Clay's opposition to annexation damaged his campaign in the South, as Democrats argued that he worked in unison with Northerners to stop the extension of slavery.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=311–312}} In July, Clay wrote two letters in which he attempted to clarify his position on the annexation of Texas, and Democrats attacked his supposedly inconsistent position.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|p=390}}

Polk narrowly won the election, taking 49.5% of the popular vote and 170 of the 275 electoral votes.{{sfn|Heidler|Heidler|2010|p=392}}{{efn|Clay received a significant share of the presidential electoral vote in three separate elections, [[List of United States major party presidential tickets|a feat matched only]] by [[John Adams]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Andrew Jackson]], [[Grover Cleveland]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Richard Nixon]], and [[William Jennings Bryan]], with only the latter (like Clay) failing to ever win a presidential election.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}}} Birney won several thousand anti-annexation votes in New York, and his presence in the race may have cost Clay the election.{{sfn|Howe|2007|p=688}} Most of Clay's contemporaries believed that annexation had been the decisive issue in the race, but Polk's savvy campaigning on the tariff may have also been decisive, as he narrowly won pro-tariff Pennsylvania after downplaying his anti-tariff views.{{sfn|Klotter|2018|pp=322–324}} After Polk's victory and the final indirect success of Tyler's strategy, Congress approved the annexation of Texas, which was signed by Tyler on his last day in office, and Texas gained statehood in late 1845.{{sfn|Peterson|1989|pp=257–258}}