Lincoln’s Speechwriter:
John Hay and the Friendship That Inspired American Eloquence
Lincoln’s Speechwriter gives readers a closer look into the man behind the political voice that was Lincoln himself.
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Praise for Lincoln’s Speechwriter
“Abraham Lincoln’s legendary addresses and writings are central to America’s once-clear understanding of itself as a paragon of democracy and defender of transcendent moral values. But did the famously plain-spoken Illinoisan write alone or benefit from the sophisticated word-smithing of a speechwriter in the shadows, as U.S. presidents both before and after him did? Jan Cigliano Hartman delves deeply into this provocative, controversial question in her new book, Lincoln’s Speechwriter: John Hay and the Friendship that Nurtured American Eloquence.”
— Blair Kamin, former Chicago Tribune architecture critic
“Abraham Lincoln’s legacy summons us to see democracy by the people as a collective project. Jan Hartman’s compelling exploration reveals that this was also true of the language Lincoln wielded to hallow that essential American ideal — deepening rather than diminishing our affection for his moral leadership, our appreciation of John Hay’s poetic gifts, and our devotion to the work their words call us to continue in our own divided day.”
— Stephen Krupin, senior speechwriter to President Barack Obama
“Jan Hartman’s writing will exit all readers… Her evidence cannot be ignored, since you have scoured John Hay’s archival record more than anyone else has done.”
— Richard M. Waugaman, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Georgetown University; 2021 Author, Friendly Fire: Shakespeare’s Accidental Enemies, a Review of the Shakespeare Authorship Controversy
“In Lincoln’s Speechwriter, Jan Cigliano Hartman makes a strong case that John Hay had a greater role not only in writing Lincoln’s Cooper Union speech and those that followed until the assassination, but that the literary quality of the language in the speeches—such as the two inaugural addresses, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address—which is generally attributed to Lincoln himself, largely came from Hay. Hartman’s careful comparison of Hay’s own writings, beginning with those from his undergraduate years, with the language attributed to Lincoln, establishes Hay’s central role in several of the most important speeches in American history.”
— Robert Wilson, editor of The American Scholar for nearly two decades; author of biographies of Mathew Brady, P. T. Barnum, and Clarence King.
Meet Jan Cigliano Hartman
Jan Cigliano Hartman is an award-winning historian of eight beautifully illustrated books that portray the social and cultural history of life and place. Showplace of America: Cleveland’s Euclid Avenue, 1850−1910 (Kent State University Press, 1991), has sold over 20,000 units and remains in print after thirty years. It was Cleveland, Ohio’s gilded-age Euclid Avenue, home to such luminaries as the founder of Standard Oil, the chairman of Western Union Telegraph, and the inventor of the electric arc light, where Hartman discovered that John Hay was the most intriguing individual among a stunning field. Other books by Hartman include Private Washington: Residences in the Nation’s Capital (Rizzoli, 1997), Grand American Avenue, editor, (Pomegranate/American Architectural Foundation, 1994), and The Women Who Changed Architecture, editor (Princeton Architectural Press, 2021).
Hartman has over 45 years’ experience in book publishing, editing and producing more than 200 books. Jan was formerly an integral part of the editorial team at Princeton Architectural Press, a New York-based independent publisher known for its artistic, distinctive, and high-quality books. In 2020, she founded JAN HARTMAN BOOKS, to pursue her dream of working closely with a diverse array of authors, publishers, and institutions to create books that inspire, inform, and enchant. She serves on the board of the American Book Producers Association.
Supporting the scholarship for this book, Hartman had a Mellon Fellowship at Massachusetts Historical Society and residencies at the American Academy in Rome and Brown University Library. She is a graduate of Oberlin College with highest honors in history and George Washington University with a master’s in urban planning.
Beyond her scholarship, Hartman is an avid hiker, gardener, traveler, and reader. She is a devoted cat and dog mom, and a devotee of the College of the Atlantic’s human ecology education in Bar Harbor, Maine.
More Books by Jan Cigliano Hartman
Contact
For Publicity Inquiries:
Smith Publicity
Sarah Fitts
sarah.fitts [at] smithpublicity.com
For Literary Inquiries:
Inkwell Management, Michael Mungiello
To contact Jan directly, please use the form below: