Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln's SecretaryOf the three secretaries who assisted President Abraham Lincoln John G. Nicolay, John Hay, and William O. Stoddard only Stoddard wrote an extended memoir about his time in the Executive Mansion. First published in 1890, the book vividly depicts the president's agonizing reaction to the defeats at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the difficulties encountered (and presented) by Mary Lincoln, the president's relations with George B. McClellan and