As later academic distinctions he has received the degree of LL.D. from Brown, Western Reserve, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale and Harvard.
After his graduation he entered the law office of Hay and Cullom, at Springfield, Illinois. The senior member of the firm was his uncle, and through him he became acquainted with Abraham Lincoln, with whom he formed an intimate friendship which continued until it was broken by death. He also made friends of many of the other distinguished men of the state. He gave diligent attention to his law studies, in which he made good progress, and was admitted to the bar early in 1861. He learned much regarding politics, too, and laid the foundations for his later success in the management of political affairs. Both as a writer for the press and as a speaker at public meetings he was prominent in the presidential campaign of 1860, and he made his influence felt to such an extent that, when the president-elect set out on his memorable inaugural trip to Washington, he invited the young lawyer to become his private secretary. This brought him into close relationship with many of the distinguished men of those stirring times, and gave him an acquaintance that proved of incalculable benefit in after life.
In addition to his duties as private secretary to the president, Mr. Hay served for some time in the field as major and assistant adjutant-general. He acted mainly as a medium of communication between Mr. Lincoln and the general commanding the armies. For his faithful performance of the duties of these positions he was promoted to the rank of colonel by brevet.
The relations between the president and his secretary were so close and cordial as almost to resemble those of father and son, and, quite naturally, after the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, Colonel Hay no longer cared to continue his connection with the office of the chief executive. He therefore accepted an appointment as secretary of legation at Paris, where he remained from 1865 to 1867, having for a portion of the time full charge of the legation. In 1867-68 he was charge d'affaires at Vienna, and from 1869 to 1870, secretary of legation at Madrid. Returning home near the close of the latter year, he became an editorial writer on the New York Tribune, and continued in that position until 1875. This embraced one of the most exciting periods of our after-war history, including Horace Greeley's candidacy for the presidency and his melancholy death.
