Editing John Hay (section)

===Secretary to Lincoln===
[[File:John Hay in 1862.jpg|thumb|upright|Hay in 1862]]
Milton Hay desired that his nephew go to Washington as a qualified attorney, and John Hay was admitted to the bar in Illinois on February 4, 1861.{{sfn|Stevenson & Stevenson|p=20}} On February 11, he embarked with [[President-elect of the United States|President-elect]] Lincoln on a circuitous journey to Washington.{{sfn|Thayer I|p=88}} By this time, several Southern states had seceded to form the [[Confederate States of America]] in reaction to the election of Lincoln, seen as an opponent of slavery.{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=39}} When Lincoln [[First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln|was sworn in]] on March 4, Hay and Nicolay moved into the White House, sharing a shabby bedroom.{{efn|Hay's office is today known as the Queens' Sitting Room; the bedroom he shared with Nicolay is known as the Queens' Bedroom. See {{harvnb|Zeitz 2014a|p=87}}.}} As there was only authority for payment of one presidential secretary (Nicolay), Hay was appointed to a post in the [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]] at $1,600 per year,{{efn|According to Zeitz, $1,500. See {{harvnb|Zeitz 2014a|p=71}}.}} seconded to service at the White House. They were available to Lincoln 24 hours a day.{{sfn|Kushner & Sherrill|p=28}} As Lincoln took no vacations as president and worked seven days a week, often until 11&nbsp;pm (or later, during crucial battles) the burden on his secretaries was heavy.{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|pp=87–88}}

Hay and Nicolay divided their responsibilities, Nicolay tending to assist Lincoln in his office and in meetings, while Hay dealt with the correspondence, which was voluminous. Both men tried to shield Lincoln from office-seekers and others who wanted to meet with the President. Unlike the dour Nicolay, Hay, with his charm, escaped much of the hard feelings from those denied Lincoln's presence.{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=43}} Abolitionist [[Thomas Wentworth Higginson]] described Hay as "a nice young fellow, who unfortunately looks about seventeen and is oppressed with the necessity of behaving like seventy."{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|p=92}} Hay continued to write, anonymously, for newspapers, sending in columns calculated to make Lincoln appear a sorrowful man, religious and competent, giving of his life and health to preserve the Union.{{sfn|Kushner & Sherrill|pp=31–32}} Similarly, Hay served as what Taliaferro deemed a "White House propagandist," in his columns explaining away losses such as that at [[First Bull Run]] in July 1861.{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=47}}

[[File:Lincoln and his secretaries.tiff|thumb|left|upright|Lincoln and his secretaries. Hay is on the right.]]
Despite the heavy workload—Hay wrote that he was busy 20 hours a day—he tried to make as normal a life as possible, eating his meals with Nicolay at [[Willard InterContinental Washington|Willard's Hotel]], going to the theater with Abraham and [[Mary Todd Lincoln]], and reading ''[[Les Misérables]]'' in French. Hay, still in his early 20s, spent time both in barrooms and at cultured get-togethers in the homes of Washington's elite.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=45–46}} The two secretaries often clashed with Mary Lincoln, who resorted to various stratagems to get the dilapidated White House restored without depleting Lincoln's salary, which had to cover entertainment and other expenses. Despite the secretaries' objections, Mrs. Lincoln was generally the victor and managed to save almost 70 percent of her husband's salary in his four years in office.{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|pp=107–09}}

After the death of Lincoln's 11-year-old son [[Willie Lincoln|Willie]] in February 1862 (an event not mentioned in Hay's diary or correspondence), "it was Hay who became, if not a surrogate son, then a young man who stirred a higher form of parental nurturing that Lincoln, despite his best intentions, did not successfully bestow on either of his surviving children".{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=52–54}} According to Hay biographer Robert Gale, "Hay came to adore Lincoln for his goodness, patience, understanding, sense of humor, humility, magnanimity, sense of justice, healthy skepticism, resilience and power, love of the common man, and mystical patriotism".{{sfn|Gale|p=18}} Speaker of the House [[Galusha Grow]] stated, "Lincoln was very much attached to him"; writer [[Charles G. Halpine]], who knew Hay then, later recorded that "Lincoln loved him as a son".{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|pp=94–95}}

Hay and Nicolay accompanied Lincoln to [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania]], for the dedication of the cemetery there, where were interred many of those who fell at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]]. Although they made much of Lincoln's brief [[Gettysburg Address]] in their 1890 multi-volume biography of Lincoln, Hay's diary states "the President, in a firm, free way, with more grace than is his wont, said his half-dozen lines of consecration."{{sfn|Thayer I|pp=203–06}}