Definition of turnbuckle. : a device that usually consists of a link with screw threads at both ends, that is turned to bring the ends closer together, and that is used for tightening a rod or stay.
Such splintering had not yet led to formal party organization, but later the faction led by Andrew Jackson would evolve into the Democratic Party, while the factions led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay would become the National Republican Party and later the Whig Party.
Early Years. A distinguished political leader whose influence extended across both houses of Congress and to the White House, Henry Clay Sr. was born on April 12, 1777, in Hanover County, Virginia. Clay was raised with modest wealth, the seventh of nine children born to Reverend John and Elizabeth Hudson Clay.