Champ Clark

On March 7, 1850, Daniel Webster delivered the last great speech of his distinguished career in defense of the Compromise of 1850. By historical coincidence, a future orator-statesman, Champ Clark, was born on that day in a poor cabin outside of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

Missouri congressman, House minority leader, Speaker of the House, and unsuccessful Democratic Party presidential candidate, Champ Clark was a political leader during the Progressive Era. Like Daniel Webster, Clark’s oratorical skills furthered his career; like Webster, despite his party leadership, no major legislation bears his name; like Webster, the presidency eluded Clark. Unlike Senator Daniel Webster, Champ Clark’s political arena was the House of Representatives, where he led the Democrats in the 1910 fight to reduce the power of Speaker Joseph Cannon, and, as Speaker, inaugurated a series of democratic reforms.