This volume opens on Christmas Eve, 1920, in the waning days of the Wilson administration. Wilson and his advisers have no program other than to bring the administration to a decent end. The Cabinet meets for the last time on March 1, 1921. Emotions run high as various members recall the battles they have fought with their chief, and Wilson, tears rolling down his cheeks, dismisses them with the benediction: "Gentlemen, it is one of the handicaps of my physical condition that I cannot control myself as I've been accustomed to do. God bless you all." The end of the Wilson presidency evokes an outpouring of letters to Wilson and editorials in leading newspapers. These documents review his entire public career, from the presidency of Princeton University to the end of his presidency of the United States, and describe the Wilsonian legacy: high standards of educational and public service, courageous leadership in domestic reform, constancy of principle, and a new vision of the world united for progress, democracy, human rights, and peace.
Wilson participates in the formalities preceding Harding's inauguration, and the transition from the White House to a new home on S Street proceeds smoothly. As Wilson's health improves, he forms a law partnership with his former Secretary of State, Bainbridge Colby, and privately seeks political influence, while maintaining absolute silence on affairs of state.