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.
Henry Clay, Nineth Secretary of State. Clay was born in Hanover County, Virginia. After a minimal formal education, Clay read law and gained admission to the bar in both Virginia and Kentucky in 1797. He became a leading real estate and business lawyer in Frankfort, Kentucky and soon embarked on a career in politics.