Henry Clay Quotes
The Senate has no army, no navy, no patronage, no lucrative offices, nor glittering honors to bestow. Around us there is no swarm of greedy expectants rendering us homage, anticipating our wishes, and ready to execute our commands. How is it with the President [Andrew Jackson]? Is he powerless? He is felt from one extremity to the other of this republic. By means of principles which he has introduced [the spoils system], and innovations which he has made in our institutions, alas! but too much countenanced by Congress and a confiding people, he exercises uncontrolled the power of the state. In one hand he holds the purse and in the other brandishes the sword of the country! Myriads of dependents and partisans scattered over the land are ever ready to sing hosannas to him and to laud to the skies what ever he does. He has swept over the government like a tropical tornado.
Henry Clay, 1777-1852, U.S. Congressman and Senator (National Republican & Whig, KY), Speaker of the House, U.S. Secretary of State, Unsuccessful presidential candidate, Speech in the Senate on expunging the censure of President Andrew Jackson, January, 1837
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
President Coolidge had nominated Charles Beecher Warren as Attorney General but the Senate with his own party in the majority rejected the nomination as Warren had been closely connected with the Sugar Trust. Coolidge, refused to accept the Senate decision and renominated Warren and threatened that if the Senate would not confirm Warren, be would give him a recess appointment after the Senate adjourned:. The statement was written for a Senate speech but never delivered as such. Warren was rejected by the Senate a second time, and the President indeed offered him a recess appointment, but Warren refused.
This quotation has much more meaning that similar statements of dozens of other people who claimed Bush should be impeached. The reason is that Fine was a strong conservative wanting to impeach a conservative President and he was the person who drafted the articles of impeachment against President William Clinton which passed the House but Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. So Fine was generally seen as a partisan for Republican Conservatives like Bush and a man who acted strongly against Clinton, and yet he observed in this quotation that Bush’s crimes were more serious. See {583797} for a concurring view on impeachment of Bush.
His main reason for believing this is that all appropriations bills must be initiated by the House of Representatives. Lobbyists therefore often give the House more attention than the Senate.
The United States government had for many years deposited all its funds in a single private bank, the Bank of the United States. In 1833, President Andrew Jackson, without any congressional authorization, ordered the federal deposits to be distributed among state banks instead. The Senate was furious and passed the first resolution of censure of a President in United States history:. Carried by a vote of 26 to 20. Four years later a pro-Jackson Senate majority voted to expunge the resolution.
From this quotation, {624648} and {615902} it is clear that the framers of the Constitution intended the treaty making powers to be shared by the President and the Senate. In practice, in modern times treaties are usually initially negotiated by diplomats under the supervision of the President and the Senate gets to concur or not in the ratification process. However, there have been a number of treaty failures including the League of Nations where the lack of coordination has resulted in a situation where the Senate had to accept or reject something which the President had negotiated and the Senate rejected the treaty.
See {635809} for an additional view on this act.
President Andrew Johnson had been impeached by the House of Representatives and was being tried in by the Senate. A majority of the Senators voted for conviction but the vote was 1 short of the two-thirds that were needed. Johnson remained in office. These were two of the charges against Johnson. A Century later Presidents commonly did both of these. George W. Bush made reappointment of Senate rejected nominees into an art form but after the Johnson trial, these were never to be considered reasons for impeachment again.
Henry Clay Sr. was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the Senate and House. He was the seventh House Speaker and the ninth Secretary of State. He received electoral votes for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 presidential elections. He also helped found both the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. For his role in defusing sectional crises, he earned the appellation of the "Great Compromiser" and was part of the "Great Triumvirate".
