Gilson Willets was a globe traveling reporter for 25 years who journeyed for three months through India and was also a member of the Harriman expedition to the Yucatan. Willets put his varied and often dangerous experiences to good use writing Inside History of the White House.The author writes:"This is Presidential Year. It is the year in which we elect anew Chief Executive of the nation. And, following the election, the time comes when, with profound regret, we say adieu to one of the most extraordinary Presidents in our country's history, while at the same time we welcome, with sincere congratulations, the inauguration and entrance to the White House of that forceful man who, for the next four years, will perform the arduous duties of the country's twenty-seventh Chief Magistrate."So is this the season when, by reason of the great events in connection with the Presidency, we become naturally and deeply interested in the most exalted office within the gift of the people; in the different men who, through a century and more, have held that office; in the man who at present holds that post; in the man who is soon to succeed the incumbent of to-day; and, above all, in the official and domestic life of each and every one of the masters and mistresses of the White House in the one hundred and eight years of its existence."