John Hay moved to DC to serve as one of two personal secretaries to President Abraham Lincoln, living in the White House beginning at age 22, sharing a second floor bedroom in the northeast corner of the residence. Hay trained as a lawyer, and other than six years as a journalist for the New York Tribune, he spent his career in government.
Hay is the author of a novel, The Bread-Winners (1883), a travel memoir, Castilian Days (1875), and two books of poems, Pike County Ballads (1871), and Poems (1890). He co-authored, with John G. Nicolay, the biography Abraham Lincoln: A History (1890).
Hay held diplomatic posts in France, Spain, Austria, and the United Kingdom. He was Secretary of State under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. He was one of the first seven people elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1904.
Hay lived in a few other DC locations, none of which still stand. His grand mansion on Lafayette Square, built on the same property as the home of his best friend, Henry Adams, is now the site of the Hay-Adams Hotel.
The Homes
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC
Built of Aquia Creek sandstone, this 130-room Neoclassical mansion was largely destroyed by arson during the War of 1812, and reconstructed in 1817. Additions include the South Portico (1824), the North Portico (1829), the West Wing (1901), and the Oval Office (1909). In 1949, the inside was completely gutted to stabilize the building with steel framing. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in 1935. The mansion was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Also home to: Rose Elizabeth Cleveland Ulysses S. Grant Herbert Hoover Paul Jennings John F. Kennedy Alice Roosevelt Longworth Anna Roosevelt Halsted Eleanor Roosevelt Elliott Roosevelt James Roosevelt II Theodore Roosevelt Helen Herron Taft Margaret Truman Edith Bolling Galt Wilson
John Hay
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Located in Lafayette Square neighborhood, Northwest - East of Rock Creek