# John Hay — The Education of Henry Adams character guide > John Hay in The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Hay, John Hay⁠—tried, Already Hay **First appearance:** 0010-viii-diplomacy-1861 ## Snapshot A fellow diplomat and intimate of Adams, Hay shares the education of Washington and London society, later rising to become Lincoln's secretary and eventually Secretary of State. ## Who they are Hay belongs to the small circle of young men Adams trusts in Washington and abroad, a companion in the social and political apprenticeship neither can quite convert into a career. Where Adams broods over his uselessness, Hay moves more easily through power, and the contrast sharpens Adams's sense of his own drift. Their friendship anchors the middle chapters, giving Adams a witness and a foil as both men try to make something of the education their era offers. ## Relationships ### [Henry Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters/henry_adams) _friendship_ John Hay was Henry Adams's lifelong intimate friend and confidant, with whom he shared political insights and personal support. ### [Clarence King](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters/clarence_king) _friendship_ Clarence King and John Hay were close friends and part of Henry Adams's inner social circle, sharing wit and intellectual camaraderie. ### [Clarence King](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters/clarence_king) _friendship_ Clarence King and John Hay were close friends and part of Henry Adams's inner social circle, sharing wit and intellectual camaraderie. ### [Henry Adams](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters/henry_adams) _friendship_ John Hay was Henry Adams's lifelong intimate friend and confidant, with whom he shared political insights and personal support. ## In the story ### [Harvard College (1854–1858)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/iv-harvard-college-1854-1858) Mentioned as a later friend not met at Harvard. ### [VII: Treason (1860–1861)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/vii-treason-1860-1861) Another private secretary, arriving in Washington at the same time; becomes Henry's lifelong friend. ### [XIV: Dilettantism (1865–1866)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xiv-dilettantism-1865-1866) Passes through London to bury himself in second-rate Legations before returning to America. ### [Free Fight (1869–1870)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xviii-free-fight-1869-1870) Implied as a friend and fellow observer of the political scene, though not directly named in excerpts. ### [Twenty Years After (1892)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxi-twenty-years-after-1892) Friend and neighbor on La Fayette Square; wrote the Life of Lincoln and shares Adams's reflections on success. ### [XXII: Chicago (1893)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxii-chicago-1893) One of the few houses Adams could enter without being asked; part of the Republican social circle. ### [Silence (1894–1898)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxiii-silence-1894-1898) Mentioned as a successful contemporary who owed his free hand to marriage; Adams spends summer with him in Yellowstone. ### [XXIV: Indian Summer (1898–1899)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxiv-indian-summer-1898-1899) Serves as Secretary of State under McKinley, achieves diplomatic success in London, but faces personal and political troubles; Adams observes his work and worries about his endurance. ### [XXVI: Twilight (1901)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxvi-twilight-1901) Secretary of State who boldly saved China and the Legations during the Boxer crisis, though burdened by work and declining health. ### [Teufelsdröckh (1901)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxvii-teufelsdr-ckh-1901) Mentioned as a friend whose doings are reported to Adams; stands in the path of Russian inertia. ### [The Height of Knowledge (1902)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxviii-the-height-of-knowledge-1902) Hay is portrayed as the best schoolmaster since 1865, a Secretary of State who achieved diplomatic triumphs and adopted a policy of international combination. ### [XXXII: Vis Nova (1903–1904)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxxii-vis-nova-1903-1904) Mentioned as being as strange to the Mississippi River as though not bred on its shores. ### [Nunc Age (1905)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/chapters/xxxv-nunc-age-1905) Adams's friend, whose failing health and eventual death are described; he is urged to rest and resign. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters/john_hay - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_education_of_henry_adams_se/characters