John Nicolay

John Nicolay (1832-1901) was personal secretary to American President Abraham Lincoln; his appointment to that post in 1861 was Lincoln's first official action on taking office. In late 1862, he had the unpleasant task of announcing to President Lincoln the arrival of British ambassador Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons; Lyons had come to the White House to inform the President that his government had granted diplomatic recognition to the Confederate States and would go to war with the United States if Lincoln did not do the same.