James B. Conroy, JD
Lincoln’s White House: The People’s House in Wartime
Lincoln’s White House is the first book devoted to capturing the look, feel, and smell of the executive mansion from Lincoln’s inauguration in 1861 to his assassination in 1865.
James Conroy brings to life the people who knew it, from servants to cabinet secretaries. We see the constant stream of visitors, from ordinary citizens to visiting dignitaries and diplomats. Conroy enables the reader to see how the Lincolns lived and how the administration conducted day-to-day business during four of the most tumultuous years in American history. Relying on fresh research and a character-driven narrative and drawing on untapped primary sources, he takes the reader on a behind-the-scenes tour that provides new insight into how Lincoln lived, led the government, conducted war, and ultimately, unified the country to build a better government of, by, and for the people.
[Recorded November 10, 2022.]
James B. Conroy, JD, is an award winning author and an Honorary Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society. A former Senate press secretary and speechwriter, Conroy graduated magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center and practiced law in Boston until 2020. His first book, Our One Common Country: Abraham Lincoln and the Hampton Roads Peace Conference of 1865, was a finalist for the prestigious Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. His second book, Lincoln’s White House: The People’s House in Wartime, shared the Lincoln Prize and won the Abraham Lincoln Institute’s annual book award. He and his wife, Lynn, divide their time between Hingham, Massachusetts, and Martha’s Vineyard.
