historical-nonfiction:

An 1863 photograph of Abraham Lincoln with his private secretaries John Nicolay (seated) and John Hay (standing). Both deeply admired Lincoln, and defended him as best they could. They co-authored the ten-volume Abraham Lincoln: A History. Nicolay was a former journalist with the Pike County Sucker and Pittsfield Free Press and a clerk to the Illinois Secretary of State (where he was in charge of the election records) at the time of Lincoln’s nomination for President. He served as a one-man transition committee for the Lincoln’s move into the White House. Signing his appointment was President Lincoln’s first official act after inauguration. Hay  was clerking his uncle’s law office in Springfield in 1859-60 when he came to know President-elect Lincoln. Nicolay insisted that Hay accompany them to Washington. Mr. Lincoln acquiesced in hiring the youthful graduate of Brown University. During Lincoln’s presidency, Hay was a social companion of Robert Lincoln when the President’s son was in the capital.

(via retrocampaigns)