Editing John Hay (section)

==Wilderness years (1870–1897)==
===''Tribune'' and marriage===

[[File:Clara Louise Stone.jpg|thumb|Clara Louise Stone]]
While still in Spain, Hay had been offered the position of assistant editor at the ''[[New-York Tribune]]''—both the editor, Horace Greeley, and his managing editor, [[Whitelaw Reid]], were anxious to hire Hay. He joined the staff in October 1870. The ''Tribune'' was the leading reform newspaper in New York,{{sfn|Kushner|p=372}} and through mail subscriptions, the largest-circulating newspaper in the nation.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=130–31}} Hay wrote editorials for the ''Tribune'', and Greeley soon proclaimed him the most brilliant writer of "breviers" (as such editorials were called) that he had ever had.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=132–33}}

With his success as an editorial writer, Hay's duties expanded. In October 1871, he journeyed to Chicago after the [[Great Chicago Fire|great fire there]], interviewing [[Catherine O'Leary|Mrs. O'Leary]], whose cow was said to have started the blaze, describing her as "a woman with a lamp [who went] to the barn behind the house, to milk the cow with the crumpled temper, that kicked the lamp, that spilled the kerosene, that fired the straw that burned Chicago".{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|p=194}} His work at the ''Tribune'' came as [[John Hay#Literary career|his fame as a poet]] was reaching its peak, and one colleague<!-- unnamed in source --> described it as "a liberal education in the delights of intellectual life to sit in intimate companionship with John Hay and watch the play of that well-stored and brilliant mind".{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|pp=195–96}} In addition to writing, Hay was signed by the prestigious [[Boston Lyceum Bureau]], whose clients included [[Mark Twain]] and [[Susan B. Anthony]], to give lectures on the prospects for democracy in Europe, and on his years in the Lincoln White House.{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=140}}

By the time [[Ulysses S. Grant|President Grant]] ran for reelection in 1872, Grant's administration had been rocked by scandal, and some disaffected members of his party formed the [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|Liberal Republicans]], naming Greeley as their candidate for president,{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=143}} a nomination soon joined in by the Democrats. Hay was unenthusiastic about the editor-turned-candidate, and in his editorials mostly took aim at Grant, who, despite the scandals, remained untarred, and who won a landslide victory [[1872 United States presidential election|in the election]]. Greeley died only weeks later, a broken man. Hay's stance endangered his hitherto sterling credentials in the Republican Party.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=153–57}}

By 1873, Hay was wooing Clara Stone, daughter of Cleveland multimillionaire railroad and banking mogul [[Amasa Stone]]. Their marriage in 1874 made the salary attached to office a small consideration for the rest of his life. Amasa Stone needed someone to watch over his investments, and wanted Hay to move to Cleveland to fill the post.{{sfn|Kushner & Sherrill|pp=67–68}} Although the Hays initially lived in John's New York apartment and later in a townhouse there, they moved in June 1875 to Stone's ornate home on Cleveland's [[Euclid Avenue (Cleveland)|Euclid Avenue]], "Millionaire's Row", and a mansion was quickly under construction for the Hays next-door.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=163–66}} The Hays had four children, [[Helen Hay Whitney]], [[Adelbert Stone Hay]], Alice Evelyn Hay Wadsworth Boyd (who married [[James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr.]]), and [[Clarence Leonard Hay]].{{sfn|Gale|p=22}} Their father proved successful as a money manager, though he devoted much of his time to literary and political activities,{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|p=205}} writing to Adee that "I do nothing but read and yawn".{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=167}}

On December 29, 1876, a [[Ashtabula River railroad disaster|bridge over Ohio's Ashtabula River collapsed]]. The bridge had been built from metal cast at one of Stone's mills, and was carrying a train owned and operated by Stone's [[Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway|Lake Shore and Michigan Railway]]. Ninety-two people died; it was the worst rail disaster in American history up to that point. Blame fell heavily on Stone, who departed for Europe to recuperate and left Hay in charge of his businesses.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=171–73}} The summer of 1877 was marked by labor disputes; [[Great Railroad Strike of 1877|a strike]] over wage cuts on the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad]] soon spread to the Lake Shore, much to Hay's outrage. He blamed foreign agitators for the dispute, and vented his anger over the strike in his only novel, ''[[The Bread-Winners]]'' (1883).{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=173–74}}

===Return to politics===
[[File:James Abram Garfield, photo portrait seated.jpg|thumb|upright|[[James A. Garfield]]: the second president to be assassinated whom Hay advised]]
Hay remained disaffected from the Republican Party in the mid-1870s. Seeking a candidate of either party he could support as a reformer, he watched as his favored Democrat, [[Samuel Tilden]], gained his party's nomination, but his favored Republican, [[James G. Blaine]], did not, falling to Ohio Governor [[Rutherford B. Hayes]], whom Hay did not support during the campaign. Hayes's [[1876 United States presidential election|victory in the election]] left Hay an outsider as he sought a return to politics, and he was initially offered no place in the new administration.{{sfn|Kushner|pp=373–74}} Nevertheless, Hay attempted to ingratiate himself with the new president by sending him a gold ring with a strand of George Washington's hair, a gesture that Hayes deeply appreciated.{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|p=206}} Hay spent time working with Nicolay on their Lincoln biography, and traveling in Europe.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=179–81}} When Reid, who had succeeded Greeley as editor of the ''Tribune'', was offered the post of Minister to Germany in December 1878, he turned it down and recommended Hay. Secretary of State [[William M. Evarts]] indicated that Hay "had not been active enough in political efforts", to Hay's regret, who told Reid that he "would like a second-class mission uncommonly well".{{sfn|Kushner|pp=374–75}}

From May to October 1879, Hay set out to reconfirm his credentials as a loyal Republican, giving speeches in support of candidates and attacking the Democrats. In October, President and [[Lucy Hayes|Mrs. Hayes]] came to a reception at Hay's Cleveland home. When Assistant Secretary of State [[Frederick W. Seward]] resigned later that month, Hay was offered his place and accepted, after some hesitancy because he was considering running for Congress.{{sfn|Kushner|pp=375–76}}

In Washington, Hay oversaw a staff of eighty employees, renewed his acquaintance with his friend [[Henry Adams]], and substituted for Evarts at Cabinet meetings when the Secretary was out of town.{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|pp=206–07}} In 1880, he campaigned for the Republican nominee for president, his fellow Ohioan, Congressman [[James A. Garfield]].{{sfn|Kushner|p=377}} Hay felt that Garfield did not have enough backbone, and hoped that Reid and others would "inoculate him with the gall which I fear he lacks".{{sfn|Ackerman|pp=205–06}} Garfield consulted Hay before and after [[1880 United States presidential election|his election as president]] on appointments and other matters, but offered Hay only the post of private secretary (though he promised to increase its pay and power), and Hay declined.{{sfn|Kushner|pp=377–78}} Hay resigned as assistant secretary effective March 31, 1881, and spent the next seven months as acting editor of the ''Tribune'' during Reid's extended absence in Europe. [[Assassination of James A. Garfield|Garfield's death]] in September and Reid's return the following month left Hay again on the outside of political power, looking in. He would spend the next fifteen years in that position.{{sfn|Kushner|p=378}}

===Wealthy traveler (1881–1897)===
====Author and dilettante====
After 1881, Hay did not again hold public office until 1897.{{sfn|Kushner|p=378}} Amasa Stone committed suicide in 1883; his death left the Hays very wealthy.{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|p=212}} They spent several months in most years traveling in Europe.{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|p=212}} The Lincoln biography absorbed some of Hay's time, the hardest work being done with Nicolay in 1884 and 1885; beginning in 1886, portions began appearing serially, and the [[Abraham Lincoln: A History|ten-volume biography]] was published in 1890.{{sfn|Gale|p=14}}

In 1884, Hay and Adams commissioned architect [[Henry Hobson Richardson]] to construct [[Hay-Adams Hotel|houses for them]] on Washington's [[Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.|Lafayette Square]]; these were completed by 1886.{{sfn|Friedlaender|p=137}} Hay's house, facing the White House{{sfn|Kushner|p=379}} and fronting on Sixteenth Street, was described even before completion as "the finest house in Washington."{{sfn|Friedlaender|p=140}} The price for the combined tract, purchased from [[William Wilson Corcoran]], was $73,800, of which Adams paid a third for his lot.{{sfn|Friedlaender|pp=144–45}} Hay budgeted the construction cost at $50,000;{{sfn|Friedlaender|p=154}} his ornate, {{convert|12000|sqft}} mansion eventually cost over twice that. Despite their possession of two lavish houses, the Hays spent less than half the year in Washington and only a few weeks a year in Cleveland.{{sfn|Zeitz 2014a|p=211}} They also spent time at [[The Fells]], their summer residence in [[Newbury, New Hampshire]]. According to Gale, "for a full decade before his appointment in 1897 as ambassador to England, Hay was lazy and uncertain."{{sfn|Gale|pp=28–29}}

Hay continued to devote much of his energy to Republican politics. In 1884, he supported Blaine for president, donating considerable sums to the senator's unsuccessful campaign against New York Governor [[Grover Cleveland]]. Many of Hay's friends were unenthusiastic about Blaine's candidacy, to Hay's anger, and he wrote to editor [[Richard Watson Gilder]], "I have never been able to appreciate the logic that induces some excellent people every four years because they cannot nominate the candidate they prefer to vote for the party they don't prefer."{{sfn|Kushner|pp=378–79}} In 1888, Hay had to follow his own advice as his favored candidate, Ohio Senator [[John Sherman]], was unsuccessful at [[1888 Republican National Convention|the Republican convention]]. After some reluctance, Hay supported the nominee, former Indiana senator [[Benjamin Harrison]], who was elected. Though Harrison appointed men whom Hay supported, including Blaine, Reid, and Robert Lincoln, Hay was not asked to serve in the [[Harrison administration]]. In 1890, Hay spoke for Republican congressional candidates, addressing a rally of 10,000 people in New York City, but the party was defeated, losing control of Congress. Hay contributed funds to Harrison's unsuccessful [[1892 United States presidential election|re-election effort]], in part because Reid had been made Harrison's 1892 running mate.{{sfn|Kushner|pp=381–82}}

====McKinley backer====
{{for|further information on the debate about the gold standard in the 1896 campaign|Cross of Gold speech}}
Hay was an early supporter of Ohio's [[William McKinley]] and worked closely with McKinley's political manager, Cleveland industrialist [[Mark Hanna]]. In 1889, Hay supported McKinley in his unsuccessful effort to become Speaker of the House.{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=258}} Four years later, McKinley—by then Governor of Ohio—faced a crisis when a friend whose notes he had imprudently co-signed went bankrupt during the [[Panic of 1893]]. The debts were beyond the governor's means to pay, and the possibility of insolvency threatened McKinley's promising political career. Hay was among those Hanna called upon to contribute, buying up $3,000 of the debt of over $100,000. Although others paid more, "Hay's checks were two of the first, and his touch was more personal, a kindness McKinley never forgot". The governor wrote, "How can I ever repay you & other dear friends?"{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=282}}

[[File:William McKinley by Courtney Art Studio, 1896.jpg|thumb|upright|Hay supported [[William McKinley]] in the 1896 presidential election.]]

The same panic that nearly ruined McKinley convinced Hay that men like himself must take office to save the country from disaster. By the end of 1894, he was deeply involved in efforts to lay the groundwork for [[William McKinley presidential campaign, 1896|the governor's 1896 presidential bid]]. It was Hay's job to persuade potential supporters that McKinley was worth backing.{{sfn|Kushner & Sherrill|pp=78–80}} Nevertheless, Hay found time for a lengthy stay in New Hampshire—one visitor at The Fells in mid-1895 was [[Rudyard Kipling]]—and later in the year wrote, "The summer wanes and I have done nothing for McKinley."{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=294–96}} He atoned with a $500 check to Hanna, the first of many.{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=294–96}} During the winter of 1895–96, Hay passed along what he heard from other Republicans influential in Washington, such as Massachusetts Senator [[Henry Cabot Lodge]].{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=297–98}}

Hay spent part of the spring and early summer of 1896 in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in Europe. There was a border dispute between Venezuela and [[British Guiana]], and Cleveland's Secretary of State, [[Richard Olney]], supported the Venezuelan position, announcing the [[Olney interpretation]] of the [[Monroe Doctrine]]. Hay told British politicians that McKinley, if elected, would be unlikely to change course. McKinley was nominated in June 1896; still, many Britons were minded to support whoever became the Democratic candidate. This changed when the [[1896 Democratic National Convention]] nominated former Nebraska congressman [[William Jennings Bryan]] on a "[[free silver]]" platform; he had electrified the delegates with his [[Cross of Gold speech]]. Hay reported to McKinley when he returned to Britain after a brief stay on the Continent during which Bryan was nominated in Chicago: "they were all scared out of their wits for fear Bryan would be elected, and very polite in their references to you."{{sfn|Kushner & Sherrill|pp=81–82}}{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=300–01}}

Once Hay returned to the United States in early August, he went to The Fells and watched from afar as Bryan [[whistle stop train tour|barnstormed]] the nation in [[William Jennings Bryan presidential campaign, 1896|his campaign]] while McKinley gave speeches [[front porch campaign|from his front porch]]. Despite an invitation from the candidate, Hay was reluctant to visit McKinley at his home in Canton. "He has asked me to come, but I thought I would not struggle with the millions on his trampled lawn".{{sfn|Taliaferro|pp=305–06}} In October, after basing himself at his Cleveland home and giving a speech for McKinley, Hay went to Canton at last, writing to Adams,

{{quote|I had been dreading it for a month, thinking it would be like talking in a boiler factory.  But he met me at the [railroad] station, gave me meat & took me upstairs and talked for two hours as calmly & serenely as if we were summer boarders in Bethlehem, at a loss for means to kill time.  I was more struck than ever with his mask. It is a genuine Italian ecclesiastical face of the XVth Century.{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=307}}}}

Hay was disgusted by Bryan's speeches, writing in language that Taliaferro compares to ''The Bread-Winners'' that the Democrat "simply reiterates the unquestioned truths that every man with a clean shirt is a thief and ought to be hanged: that there is no goodness and wisdom except among the illiterate & criminal classes".{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=307}} Despite Bryan's strenuous efforts, McKinley won the election easily, with a campaign run by himself and Hanna, and well-financed by supporters like Hay.{{sfn|Taliaferro|p=307}} Henry Adams later wondered, "I would give sixpence to know how much Hay paid for McKinley. His politics must have cost."{{sfn|Kushner & Sherrill|p=83}}