Cassius Marcellus Clay (politician)

Cassius Marcellus Clay (October 19, 1810 – July 22, 1903), nicknamed The Lion of White Hall, was a Kentucky planter and politician who worked for abolition of slavery.

He was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the American minister to Russia during the American Civil War, and is credited with gaining Russian support for the Union.

Early life, education and marriage

Cassius Marcellus Clay was born to Green Clay, one of the wealthiest planters and slaveholders in Kentucky, who became a prominent politician, and his wife Sally Lewis. He was one of six children who survived to adulthood, of seven born.

Clay was a member of a large and influential political family. His older brother Brutus J. Clay became a politician at the state and federal levels. They were cousins of both Kentucky politician Henry Clay and Alabama governor Clement Comer Clay. Cassius' sister Elizabeth Lewis Clay (1798-1887) married John Speed Smith, who also became a state and US politician. Their son, Green Clay Smith, became a state politician and was elected to Congress.

Cassius Marcellus Clay

Cassius Marcellus Clay may refer to:

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali (/ɑːˈliː/; born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; January 17, 1942) is an American former professional boxer, generally considered among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport. A controversial and polarizing figure during his early career, Ali is now highly regarded for the skills he displayed in the ring plus the values he exemplified outside of it: religious freedom, racial justice and the triumph of principle over expedience. He is one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.

Ali began training at 12 years old and at the age of 22 won the world heavyweight championship in 1964 from Sonny Liston in a stunning upset. Shortly after that bout, Ali joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name. He converted to Sunni Islam in 1975.

In 1967, three years after winning the heavyweight title, Ali refused to be conscripted into the U.S. military, citing his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. He was eventually arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges and stripped of his boxing title. He did not fight again for nearly four years—losing a time of peak performance in an athlete's career. Ali's appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where in 1971 his conviction was overturned. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation.