Although the concept of public relations and "spin" had not yet been defined during the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln steered the Union through the perils of war by skillfully playing his own version of the PR game. In War of Words, historian Harry J. Maihafer adds a valuable new interpretation to the literature on one of America's most revered leaders. While the technology and professional standards of the media have changed since the nineteenth century, the complex interplay between the White House and journalists has not. Lincoln was always under fire by some hostile portion of the openly partisan nineteenth-century media, but through the careful cultivation of relationships he successfully wooed numerous prominent newspapermen into aiding his agenda.