“there is nothing the matter with me except old age, the Senate, and one or two other mortal maladies”
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John Hay
John Milton Hay was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary for Abraham Lincoln, he became a diplomat. He served as United States Secretary of State under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Hay was also a biographer of Lincoln, and wrote poetry and other literature throughout his life.
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culture · American statesman (1838–1905) · writer · diplomat · journalist · biographer · politician · secretary · historian · jurist · also John Hay, John Milton Hay, Hay
Born 8 October 1838 · Died 1 July 1905 · Q117101
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2026· 4 entries
“I have it all arranged. If Teddy will keep his mouth shut until tomorrow noon!”
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“entirely unsolicited and unexpected”
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Rappler: Baguio City readies court case to compel BCDA to turn over Camp John Hay
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2025· 6 entries
manilatimes: John Hay golf membership still an issue
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Rappler: Camp John Hay’s iconic Mile Hi to rise again
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Philippine Daily Inquirer: John Hay homeowners to sue developer
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Philippine Daily Inquirer: John Hay developer offers to give up P1.42B dues
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philstar.com: BCDA urged to honor sub-lessees’ rights at Camp John Hay
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manilatimes: John Hay homeowners seek president's help
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1923· 1 entry
Mount Hay, also known as Boundary Peak 167 on the Canada–United States border, was named after John Hay in recognition of his role in negotiating the US-Canada treaty resulting in the Alaska Boundary Tribunal
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1905· 5 entries
Died 1905-07-01.
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Arriving in New Hampshire the following day
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Hay's health was so bad that both his wife and his friend Henry Adams insisted on his going to Europe, where he could rest and get medical treatment
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Wrote to Senator Lodge that Hay had not been "a great Secretary of State
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William Dean Howells suggested that the Europe-themed poems expressed "(now, perhaps, old-fashioned) American sympathy for all the oppressed
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1904· 3 entries
“the perfectly regular course which the President did follow”
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To his close friend Lizzie Cameron that "the death of our boy made my wife and me old, at once and for the rest of our lives"
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Persuaded the aging and infirm Hay to campaign for him, and Hay gave a speech linking the administration's policies with those of Lincoln: "there is not a principle avowed by the Republican party to-day which is out o
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1903· 2 entries
And ratified by the United States Senate two months later
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In Baguio, Philippines, was named for John Hay, and the base name was maintained by the Philippine government even after its 1991 turnover to Philippine authorities
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1902· 2 entries
Hay wrote that when he died, "I shall not be much missed except by my wife
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“I shall not be much missed except by my wife.”
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1900· 5 entries
Suspecting that the powers were quietly making private arrangements to divide up China
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Hay announced that all powers had agreed, and he was not contradicted
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Though he quickly wrote a congratulatory note after the convention
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Hay negotiated a treaty with Denmark for the cession of the Danish West Indies
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And McKinley was unanimously renominated at the Republican National Convention that year
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1898· 2 entries
Hay received a telegram from McKinley that Day would head the American delegation to the peace talks with Spain, and that Hay would be the new Secretary of State
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Career landmark: United States Secretary of State (1898–1905).
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1897· 2 entries
Hay echoed these points, "The great body of people in the United States and England are friends
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As ambassador to England, Hay was lazy and uncertain
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1890· 2 entries
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
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It was not sold in bookstores, but instead door-to-door, then a common practice
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1889· 1 entry
Hay supported McKinley in his unsuccessful effort to become Speaker of the House
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1888· 1 entry
Hay had to follow his own advice as his favored candidate, Ohio Senator John Sherman, was unsuccessful at the Republican convention
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1884· 3 entries
And 1885; beginning in 1886, portions began appearing serially, and the ten-volume biography was published in 1890
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Supported Blaine for president, donating considerable sums to the senator's unsuccessful campaign against New York Governor Grover Cleveland
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Hay and Adams commissioned architect Henry Hobson Richardson to construct houses for them on Washington's Lafayette Square; these were completed by 1886
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1883· 1 entry
(published editions did not bear Hay's name until 1916) and he may have tried to disguise his writing style
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1880· 1 entry
Campaigned for the Republican nominee for president, Ohio Congressman James A
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1876· 1 entry
A bridge over Ohio's Ashtabula River collapsed
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1874· 2 entries
Formally agreed to let Hay and Nicolay use his father's papers; by 1875, they were engaged in research
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Made the salary attached to office a small consideration for the rest of his life
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1872· 1 entry
Grant's administration had been rocked by scandal, and some disaffected members of his party formed the Liberal Republicans, naming Greeley as their candidate for president, a nomination soon joined in by the Democrats
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1871· 1 entry
Although several of the individual chapters appeared in The Atlantic in 1870
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1866· 1 entry
In a personal letter, Hay deemed Lincoln, "the greatest character since Christ"
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1865· 1 entry
Early in his Paris stay, Hay penned "Sunrise in the Place de la Concorde", a poem attacking Napoleon III for his reinstitution of the monarchy, depicting the Emperor as having been entrusted with the child Democracy by L
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1860· 1 entry
“s candidacy. When Nicolay, who had been made Lincoln”
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1858· 2 entries
And was, like his grandfather before him, Class Poet
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Hay read law in his uncle's office in Springfield, Illinois, adjacent to that of Lincoln
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1849· 1 entry
His uncle Milton Hay invited John to live at his home in Pittsfield, Pike County, and attend a well-regarded local school, the John D
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1838· 2 entries
Born 1838-10-08.
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John Milton Hay was born in Salem, Indiana, on October 8, 1838.
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1818· 1 entry
But died en route to Vincennes, Indiana, and Helen relocated to Salem in 1830 to teach school
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