Abraham Lincoln: The Observations of John G. Nicolay and John Hay

Preface

ix preface !braham Lincoln: A History by Lincoln’s White House secretaries John G. Nicolay and John Hay, though flawed in many ways, contains invaluable passages based on their own personal observations in Washington . As they noted in the introduction to their ten-volume magnum opus, “We were the daily and nightly witnesses of the incidents, the anxieties, the fears, and the hopes which pervaded the Executive Mansion and the National Capital. The President’s correspondence, both official and private, passed through our hands; he gave us his full confidence . We had personal acquaintance and daily official intercourse with Cabinet Officers, Members of Congress, Governors, and Military and Naval Officers of all grades, whose affairs brought them to the White House.”1 Vivid descriptions, buried amid chapters of outmoded history that Hay himself called “dull,” are excerpted here.2 Few modern readers have the patience to wade through 4,709 pages in search of such reminiscences . The present volume complements the five volumes of diaries, letters, memoranda, journalism, and selected writings by Nicolay and Hay previously issued by the Southern Illinois University Press. Also included here are some passages from the biography in which the authors interpret their boss’s character, actions, and fame. These may reflect Lincoln’s own thinking about the matters discussed. The excerpts are primarily taken from the volumes covering the first half of Lincoln’s presidency, when Hay made only sporadic entries in his diary. The firsthand accounts in the volumes covering the second half of Lincoln’s presidency come mainly from that diary, which is much more complete than it was for 1861 and 1862. x The introduction, a slightly altered form of “Nicolay and Hay: Court Historians” (Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, vol. 19, no. 1 [winter 1998]: 1–20), describes the composition, reception, and reputation of the biography. preface !BRAHAM ,INCOLN ...