<span>A leader of the Whig party and five times an unsuccessful presidential candidate, Henry Clay (1777-1852) played a central role on the stage of national politics for over forty years. He was secretary of state under John Quincy Adams, Speaker of the House of Representatives longer than anyone else in the nineteenth century, and the most influential member of the Senate during its golden age. In a parliamentary system, he would have undoubtedly become prime minister.</span>
King James the second created the Privy Council as an alternative to make the colonies less independent. That way, some colonies were controlled by royal governors who reinforced the law of the English Crown.
