A comprehensive biography that uses extensive private papers and correspondence to trace the subject's private life and long public career, including diplomatic posts, congressional service, and executive administration. The author interweaves narrative description with quotations from documents to illuminate key decisions and controversies, especially those arising during the national crisis that followed his term. The work evaluates character, motives, and policy choices, aims for impartiality, and situates episodes within broader political and diplomatic contexts while explaining the documentary basis for its conclusions.