Lincoln's Boys: John Hay, John Nicolay, and the War for Lincoln's Image

John Hay and John Nicolay served as Lincoln's personal and presidential secretaries, witnessing Lincoln's ascent to power, his wartime trials and triumphs, and his untimely end. After his death, when unauthorized biographers spread sensational tales relating to the martyred president, the Lincoln family gave the two men exclusive access to Lincoln's papers, and they got to work creating an official biography that put forth the interpretation of Lincoln's life that still dominates today. In this well-researched work, which is based upon Hay's voluminous papers and other primary sources, Zeitz (Flapper) interweaves the narrative of the lives of Hay and Nicolay with the history of the nation from the pre-Civil War period through the end of the 19th century. In addition, and perhaps more important, it traces the many Lincoln biographies subsequent to Hay and Nicolay's, showing how the two succeeded in crafting an image of Lincoln that would stand the test of time.