Speakers of the House honor Henry Clay

Kentucky native Henry Clay, the eighth U.S. speaker of the House, established the importance of the office today, said the current speaker and two former speakers at an event in Clay’s honor Friday.

Speaker of the House John Boehner and former Speakers Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Hastert spoke at Transylvania University’s Haggin Auditorium Friday night as part of the inaugural Henry Clay Week to honor Clay’s contributions to the office of speaker of the House.

Henry Clay “left an indelible mark on this country that continues today”, said Carey Cavanaugh director and professor of diplomacy and conflict resolution at the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy.

The event was organized by the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship and the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation. Proceeds from the event benefited those organizations. Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright was not present as planned due to illness. Boehner, Pelosi and Hastert are three of six living speakers.

John Harwood, chief Washington, D. C., corespondent for CNBC, introduced the speakers and moderated their discussion, keeping the conversation focused on Clay and the role of speaker of the house. A group of 51 college students — with one representative from each state and the District of Columbia — taking part in the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship’s Student Congress introduced themselves before the discussion.

Though the former and current speakers do not agree on many political issues and policies, they agreed that Clay was an influential speaker and admired his work and ideals.

“Henry Clay was the first, what I’ll call, strong speaker of the house, the real leader of the House,” Boehner said. “There is no one person in the United States who is more responsible for holding our union together than Henry Clay.”

Pelosi, current House minority leader, agreed with Boehner, commenting on Clay’s influence and dedication as speaker.

“He merged the role of leader of the party and speaker of the house… and became a person of such great power and great consequence,” she said. “He was a great patriot, he loved our country and fought to keep it united as we all know.”

The speakers generally avoided debating back and forth, but some political issues were addressed.

Education, the economy, the debt limit and Medicare were among the topics mentioned during the speakers’ discussion.

The audience erupted into applause when Pelosi said that health care should be “a right, not a privilege for the few” in the United States.

The speakers discussed the difficulties they faced during their individual tenures and reflected on their predecessor’s influence on their time in office.

Hastert also discussed the importance of September 11 in changing the partisanship that had become prevalent in the House and Senate, but he acknowledged that this bipartisanship didn’t last long.

“When 9/11 happened, something changed,” Hastert said. “Americans want to see out government work. Being the speaker, you have to find a way to make that happen.”

The event closed as the speakers were awarded with the Henry Clay Medallion for their contributions. The awards were presented by Bill Giles, president of the Henry Clay Center Memorial Foundation and co-chairman of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship.

Photo: From left to right: John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Hastert.