A unique work on the years of the Lincoln presidency that provides a look at White House life that is fascinating in detail and intimate in its viewpoint. William O. Stoddard was one of three private secretaries to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. His view back to his youth in the White House from decades later is full of humor, pathos, and abiding affection for the man who he observed closely through the war. Wrote Stoddard of Lincoln: "There is a world of natural majesty in this man's manner and presence." Stoddard was able to contrast Lincoln with McClellan on several occasions, including an evening at McClellan's home with Lincoln. Despite the general's superior education, Stoddard clearly sees Lincoln's wisdom...and his iron will when he has made a decision. The secretaries around Lincoln keenly felt the horrible tension of the war years and its impact on their boss. Stoddard felt the staff to be like a family and his affection for Lincoln is evident throughout his book. One night finds Stoddard still at his desk until 3:00 am, hearing Lincoln's slow, heavy footfalls across the hall as he paces and ponders a crushing decision. Like all Lincoln biographers, Stoddard emphasizes the importance of humor in keeping Lincoln sane and he shares wonderful stories not to be found in other works on Lincoln. Share a delightful scene of Lincoln crossing the hall to his secretaries' office to hear a joke by Nicolay and Hay. Stoddard gets a roar out of Lincoln by telling him a story of Seward and Stanton being ordered by a German-American sergeant to put out their cigars before entering the White House grounds. He describes an evening at Joe Hall's, the gambling house that sat among other gaming establishments, taverns, and bordellos between the White House and the Capitol. Judges, congressmen, soldiers, contractors, and lobbyists could all be found playing faro and other games of chance on any given night. A morning on the Capitol Mall finds Lincoln and his secretaries test-firing new weapons. While he watches his nation "bleeding terribly and spending oceans of money," Stoddard seems to miss no detail of life around him. He more than once notes that the White House is an oven in the summertime. For less than you'd spend on gas going to the library, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

Lincoln's White House is the first book devoted to capturing the look, feel, and smell of the executive mansion from Lincoln's inauguration in 1861 to his assassination in 1865.

Abraham Lincoln called Elmer Ellsworth, "The greatest little man I ever knew." Ellsworth was killed on May 24, 1861 in the act of taking down a Confederate flag that was visible from Washington, D.C. Lincoln had his remains brought to the White House to lie in state and the Great Emancipator wept over the bier. In this short volume is the story of Ellsworth's selfless devotion to country in taking up arms for the Union immediately upon Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers. Having worked in Lincoln's office in Springfield and on his campaign, Ellsworth had become friends with Lincoln. One of the first to fall in the American Civil War, "Remember Ellsworth" became a Union rallying cry. Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever. For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers, tablets, and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

From the time of Lincoln’s nomination for the presidency until his assassination, John G. Nicolay served as the Civil War president’s chief personal secretary. Nicolay became an intimate of Lincoln and probably knew him as well as anyone outside his own family. Unlike John Hay, his subordinate, Nicolay kept no diary, but he did write several memoranda recording his chief’s conversation that shed direct light on Lincoln. In his many letters to Hay, to his fiancée, Therena Bates, and to others, Nicolay often describes the mood at the White House as well as events there. He also expresses opinions that were almost certainly shaped by the president For this volume, Michael Burlingame includes all of Nicolay’s memoranda of conversations, all of the journal entries describing Lincoln’s activities, and excerpts from most of the nearly three hundred letters Nicolay wrote to Therena Bates between 1860 and 1865. He includes letters and portions of letters that describe Lincoln or the mood at the White House or that give Nicolay’s personal opinions. He also includes letters written by Nicolay while on troubleshooting missions for the president. An impoverished youth, Nicolay was an unlikely candidate for the important position he held during the Civil War. It was only over the strong objections of some powerful people that he became Lincoln’s private secretary after Lincoln’s nomination for the presidency in 1860. Prominent Chicago Republican Herman Kreismann found the appointment of a man so lacking in savoir faire “ridiculous.” Henry Martin Smith, city editor of the Chicago Tribune, called Nicolay’s appointment a national loss. Henry C.Whitney was surprised that the president would appoint a “nobody.” Lacking charm, Nicolay became known at the White House as the “bulldog in the ante-room” with a disposition “sour and crusty.” California journalist Noah Brooks deemed Nicolay a “grim Cerberus of Teutonic descent who guards the last door which opens into the awful presence.” Yet in some ways he was perfectly suited for the difficult job. William O. Stoddard, noting that Nicolay was not popular and could “say 'no'about as disagreeably as any man I ever knew,” still granted that Nicolay served Lincoln well because he was devoted and incorruptible. Stoddard concluded that Nicolay “deserves the thanks of all who loved Mr. Lincoln.” For his part, Nicolay said he derived his greatest satisfaction “from having enjoyed the privilege and honor of being Mr. Lincoln’s intimate and official private secretary, and of earning his cordial friendship and perfect trust.”

Editor Michael Burlingame sifted through the the ten-volume biography Abraham Lincoln: A History and selected only the personal observations of the secretaries during the Lincoln presidency. The result is an important collection of Nicolay and Hay's interpretations of Lincoln's character, actions, and reputation.

The Lincolns spent the summer of 1862 north of the White House at the Soldiers' Home. The lush, cool hill overlooking the squalid capital promised the Lincolns an escape from the ""city of stink."" Despite fears about Lincoln's vulnerability in the secluded place, Lincoln spent a quarter of his presidency at the Soldiers' Home. But until the National Trust for Historic Preservation began restoring the cottage, little had been done to explore this missing link in Lincoln's life. Elizabeth Smith Brownstein fills in a critical gap. Using diaries, letters, and eyewitness accounts, she provides unusual perspectives on Lincoln's relationships, traces the evolution of Lincoln's image, examines the Lincoln marriage, and more. Lincoln's Other White House is a vivid evocation of a turbulent era, and an intimate portrait of the still elusive president.

"James M. McPherson’s Tried by War is a perfect primer . . . for anyone who wishes to under­stand the evolution of the president’s role as commander in chief. Few histo­rians write as well as McPherson, and none evoke the sound of battle with greater clarity." —The New York Times Book Review The Pulitzer Prize–winning author reveals how Lincoln won the Civil War and invented the role of commander in chief as we know it As we celebrate the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, this study by preeminent, bestselling Civil War historian James M. McPherson provides a rare, fresh take on one of the most enigmatic figures in American history. Tried by War offers a revelatory (and timely) portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured. Suspenseful and inspiring, this is the story of how Lincoln, with almost no previous military experience before entering the White House, assumed the powers associated with the role of commander in chief, and through his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union.