"Abraham Lincoln, a History — Volume 02" by John G. Nicolay and John Hay is a historical biography published in 1890. Written by Lincoln's personal secretaries during the Civil War, this monumental ten-volume work drew from exclusive access to Lincoln's papers and extensive research. The authors sought to counter what they saw as distorted portrayals of Lincoln's life and legacy, crafting a comprehensive account that would shape how Americans remembered their martyred president for generations to come. (This is an automatically generated summary.)