In 1820 began the career for which he is famous--that of the “Great Pacificator,” trying to avert conflict between the north and the south, the free and the slave states. It was largely through his influence that the contest was so long postponed. Clay was not the author of the Missouri Compromise--as the bill was called which provided that Missouri should be admitted to statehood without restriction as to slavery--but it was through his influence that it was passed. Although he struggled to adjust differences and keep the peace, he stood fearlessly by what he thought was right. On one occasion Clay consulted a friend about the stand he was preparing to take on a public question. The friend suggested that the course he planned might injure his political prospects. His reply was, “I did not send for you to ask what might be the effects of the proposed movement on my prospects, but whether it is right. I would rather be right than be president.” His life-long ambition was to become president, and he was several times a candidate and once seemed on the eve of victory only to be defeated. The Great Peacemaker was too moderate for either side. The north accused him of favoring slavery, the south of making war against established institutions. He was not, however, in favor of freeing slaves, except gradually, and then of colonizing them. His own slaves were well-treated and loved him dearly. Clay was one of what is called the Great Triumvirate, composed of the three foremost leaders in Congress; Webster and Calhoun were the other two. The three were in many ways rivals for power and popularity, but they united in opposing Jackson--who, secure in the favor of the people, held his own against all three. In 1833 Clay, the “Great Compromiser,” carried his second great compromise act, securing the passage of a tariff bill which caused South Carolina to withdraw her Nullification Act. “There is one man and only one man who can save the Union,” said John Randolph of Roanoke just before his death. “That man is Henry Clay. I know he has the power--I believe he will be found to have the patriotism and firmness equal to the occasion.” His patriotism and firmness were indeed equal to his power. In 1850 the friction between the slave and free states became so great that war seemed inevitable. In order to maintain peace, Clay, then an old and feeble man of seventy-three, gave up private for public life and returned to the senate. For the last time the Great Triumvirate met in Congress. Clay was so feeble that he had to be helped up and down the steps of the Capitol, but with unquenched energy and fire, he appealed to the people’s patriotism and urged them to uphold the Union. Through his influence, the compromise measures of 1850 were adopted and peace was again restored for a time.