At Lincoln's Side: John Hay's Civil War Correspondence And Selected Writings

John Hay believed that " real history is told in private letters, " and the more than 220 surviving letters and telegrams from his Civil War days prove that to be true, showing Abraham Lincoln in action: " The Tycoon is in fine whack. I have rarely seen him more serene & busy. He is managing this war, the draft, foreign relations, and planning a reconstruction of the Union, all at once. I never knew with what tyrannous authority he rules the Cabinet, till now. The most important things he decides & there is no cavil."

Along with Hay' s personal correspondence, Burlingame includes his surviving official letters. Though lacking the " literary brilliance of Hay' s] personal letters, " Burlingame explains, " they help flesh out the historical record." Burlingame also includes some of the letters Hay composed for Lincoln' s signature, including the celebrated letter of condolence to the Widow Bixby.

More than an inside glimpse of the Civil War White House, Hay' s surviving correspondence provides a window on the world of nineteenth-century Washington, D.C.