• “Josh Zeitz brings Hay and Nicolay to vivid life in this beautifully written and deeply researched history.”

    Doris Kearns Goodwin

  • “A gracefully written, emotionally intelligent dual biography.”

    The New York Times Book Review

  • "A century before Harry Hopkins, Clark Clifford, or Ted Sorensen, John Hay and John Nicolay performed the duties of presidential aides, advisers, political operatives, and confidantes. Even the great Abraham Lincoln needed support, and Joshua Zeitz captures perfectly the intimate, interior world of the White House"

    David Plouffe, former White House senior advisor

Cover of Lincoln’s Boys featuring archival photograph of Abraham Lincoln seated with John Nicolay and John Hay, circa 1863, in sepia tone.

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

Nominated for the prestigious Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History

In Lincoln’s Boys, historian Joshua Zeitz tells the dramatic story of John Hay and John Nicolay—two young men who served as Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretaries during the Civil War and went on to shape his legacy as national mythmakers.

Through decades of public service, journalism, and a monumental ten-volume biography of Lincoln, Hay and Nicolay carefully crafted a version of Lincoln as a unifying moral leader. Their work established many of the central themes we now associate with Lincoln’s presidency.

Blending political history and personal narrative, Lincoln’s Boys is a fascinating portrait of loyalty, memory, and the making of American political identity.

Previous

Building the Great Society: Inside Lyndon Johnson’s White House
Next

Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern