up next, lindsey apple. she explores the life of senator henry clay. >> henry clay was an early 19th century politician, statesman, he ran for president three times, tried to get the nomination on two others, failed on all occasions, but he's probably the best known nonpresident of that period. >> why is that? >> well -- dana walker howell argues that clay had the most expansive vision for the country of any politician of that period. he's speaking basically of the american system. which was an attempt to unify the country. we were a big country, in fact, most people thought we could not exist as a democracy. as large as we were. he believed through transportation, commerce, we could tie the country together. house says that he was a better visionary than he was a politician. he could not get other people to go with him. if he could have stood out here on the front step and looked out to the west where interstate 75 and interstate64 come together, he would have told you by god, i told you so. that was what h