The following essay discusses John Hay and his collaborator, John George Nicolay. John George Nicolay and John Milton Hay produced one of the best and most comprehensive histories written in America in the nineteenth century. Nicolay was born in...

John Hay is recognized by many as a preeminent force and voice in nature writing and regional nonfiction of the twentieth century. He is identified with Cape Cod, where he lives and has written and where he has remained active in environmental...

Often portrayed as an odd amalgam of talent and lack of ambition, John Hay has confounded many attempts to delve his crowded, productive life. Hay enjoyed presenting himself as one who shied away from the limelight but was dragged into it by...

John Hay died in high office. He was at the time, as he had been since 1898, U.S. secretary of state. As Henry Adams declared in The Education of Henry Adams, Hay "had solved nearly every old problem of American statesmanship.... For the first time in...

John Hay (1838-1905) was important for shaping America's open-door policy toward the Far East. He set guidelines for much of America's diplomacy in the 20th century, involving the United States in maintaining China's territorial integrity. Rapid change...