Summer Book Section
Harold Holzer, ed. Dear Mr. Lincoln:
Just when it appears that everything that could possibly be published about the presidency of Abraham Lincoln is already in print (or in a tenth reprint), along comes the remarkable Harold Holzer with yet another interesting and insightful volume. This time the author, editor, co-editor and/or compiler of such useful works as Lincoln on Democracy (with Governor Mario Cuomo) and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: The Civil War in Art (with Mark E. Neely, Jr.) immerses his readers in the day-to-day operations of the Lincoln White House. He achieves this by exploring how the president and his assistants, principally the German-born chief of staff John G. Nicolay and the youthful John M. Hay, handled the diverse correspondence arriving at the president's office each day. Holzer's latest contribution to Lincolniana seeks to provide "the first peek at the entire Civil War White House correspondence since Lincoln's death in 1865." Indeed, Dear Mr. Lincoln offers just a peek because the wartime president received over 300 pieces of mail each day. and only a small fraction of that correspondence is presented in this carefully edited work. Still, the glimpse is more than sufficient to give the reader a fascinating insight into the inner workings of Lincoln's White House, the nature of the communications he received from every nook of American society, both North and South, and the administrative style of the nation's greatest leader. Most of Lincoln's correspondence was handled by Hay, who became the central figure in screening all the mail set before the president. "When in doubt... consult Mr. Hay" was the instruction given to "third secretary" William 0. Stoddard of Urbana, former editor of the Central Illinois Gazette. In his early twenties and fresh from Brown University, Hay had been admitted to the Illinois bar in 1861, the same year he accompanied Lincoln from Springfield to the nation's capital. Possessing remarkable literary talents and a keen sense of the ridiculous, he knew just how far he could test the president's amazing patience and legendary sense of humor. Affectionately referring in his diaries to Mr. Lincoln as "The Tycoon" or "The Ancient" and to Mrs. Lincoln as "LaReine" or "The Hell-Cat," the brilliant, irreverent, loyal and efficient Hay quickly gained his employer's trust. Following Lincoln's death. Hay enjoyed an extraordinary career as a poet, journalist, novelist and diplomat, serving as ambassador to Great Britain from 1897 to 1898 and as secretary of state from 1898 to 1905. Because the public is already familiar with the most famous letters Lincoln wrote himself, Holzer's book is as much about the staff work of Hay, and to a lesser extent Nicolay, Stoddard and others, as it is about the president they served so well. Dear Mr. Lincoln nicely complements Tyler Dennett's classic editorial work, Lincoln and the Civil War in the Diaries and Letters of John Hay (1939). Following a lively, well-written introduction, Holzer divides his work into ten sections, presenting selected letters to the White House in the following categories: Advice and Instruction, Requests and Demands, Compliments and Congratulations, Complaints and Criticisms, Inventions and Innovations, Gifts and Honors, Official Business, Presidential Invitations, Family Matters, and Threats and Warnings. Each chapter begins with a useful prologue. Despite the undeniable logic to Holzer's divisions, certain sections contain better reading than others — but maybe this depends on one's personal preferences. Even within the chapters, amazing contrasts exist, in both the incoming correspondence and the president's response. For example, Lincoln received advice from former president Millard Fillmore concerning the diplomatic crisis surrounding the Trent Affair of 1861. Lincoln completely ignored the unsolicited but well-meaning counsel of his predecessor. However, he occasionally followed the sincere advice of common citizens, including suggestions by eleven-year-old Grace Bedell that he grow a beard and Lady's Book editor Sarah Joseph Hale that Thanksgiving be made a national holiday. Holzer's most interesting selections are related to requests, demands, complaints and criticism. All of the chapters contain well-known items as well as obscure pieces sent by anonymous authors. Most of the threats arriving in the presidential mailbag were destroyed by White House staff, but Holzer presents more than a dozen examples of ravings by disturbed individuals. These remarkable documents, which have survived in various depositories, demonstrate the truth in Stoddard's observation that "whenever a man when out-and-out crazy, his first delirious impulse told him to sit down and write to Mr. Lincoln." Because of the representative variety of its selected letters. Dear Mr. Lincoln will fascinate the general reader and become a requisite addition to the bookshelf of the Lincoln buff. Michael J. Devine is director of the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. Formerly he served as director of the Illinois Historical Preservation Agency and was Illinois' state historian. July 1994/Illinois Issues/31
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