Lincoln in the Telegraph Office (Abridged, Annotated) (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781519042972)

Step behind the closed doors of the War Department-into the humming heart of Lincoln's secret war room. From 1861 to 1865, the telegraph wires were the internet of their age, and Abraham Lincoln was the first president to master this revolutionary technology. Lincoln in the Telegraph Office is the vivid eyewitness account of David Homer Bates, one of Lincoln's trusted "telegraph boys," who worked just steps from the White House as the Civil War raged.

Bates brings readers inside the tension, humor, and humanity of Lincoln's long nights decoding battlefield messages with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Major Thomas Eckert. Here, you'll encounter Lincoln not as a distant statesman, but as a sharp, compassionate leader who listened, reasoned, joked, and grieved with the clerks who served beside him.

Filled with rare insights, candid anecdotes, and first-hand details of how the Union harnessed telegraphy to win the war, this book feels as immediate today as it did when first published in 1907. It is essential reading for anyone fascinated by:

• Abraham Lincoln's leadership style and decision-making.

• Inside the White House during the Civil War.

• The origins of military intelligence and wartime communication.

• The birth of modern technology in government.

Rediscover the pulse of Lincoln's presidency where wires buzzed, messengers came and went at all hours, and history hung on every decoded word.

(Perfect for readers of Doris Kearns Goodwin, Harold Holzer, and anyone captivated by the personal side of Lincoln and his times.)