Beschreibung:

FILLMORE, MILLARD, President . Letter signed ("Millard Fillmore") as President, to Secretary of the Interior A. H. H. Stuart, "Washington City," "Tuesday, 12 1/2 Oclock P.M.," 29 June 1852. 1 page, 4to, 253 x 199mm. (10 x 7 7/8 in.), integral blank, a silk Henry Clay campaign banner (with engraved portrait and Clay's famous line "I would rather be right than be President") and a small mourning rosette neatly affixed to integral blank (neatly inlaid), recipient's detailed docket: "President Orders that the Department be closed and the building hung in mourning...." Fine. A PRESIDENT'S FINAL GESTURE OF RESPECT FOR THE AUTHOR OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 "Sir, The tolling bell announces the death of the Hon. Henry Clay. Though this event has been long anticipated, yet this painful bereavement could never be fully realized. I am sure all hearts are too sad at this moment to attend to business, and I therefore respectfully suggest that your Department be closed for the remainder of the day...." Henry Clay ("The Great Compromiser") had sought the office of President on five occasions: he was an unsuccessful nominee three times, in 1824, 1832 and 1844 (losing to John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk), and attempted to secure the Whig party nomination in 1840 (losing it to William Henry Harrison) and most recently in 1848 (only to be passed over for Zachary Taylor). He reached the height of his influence in 1850 when, by a series of resolutions, he sought to avert the rising tide of sectionalism and to forstall civil war. While President Taylor opposed Clay's measures, President Fillmore backed them fully and signed the five acts into law in September 1850. His health failing, Clay returned to his Senate seat. He died in Washington and his remains were transported by train to Lexington, Kentucky, amid national mourning.