The final day of a president's time in office is almost always spent with their successor, a tradition epitomising the peaceful transfer of power between US administrations.
It is customary for the departing president to host the president-elect at the White House, welcoming the next first family. Then come the inauguration ceremony and other public events.
But that will not be the case on Wednesday.
Donald Trump will break with tradition and fly out on Air Force One after a military send-off at Joint Base Andrews in nearby Maryland early on inauguration day.
He will leave Washington as president, something that has not happened since John Quincy Adams’s presidency in 1829.
Both John Quincy Adams and his father, John Adams, who followed George Washington as the second US president, left Washington before their successors’ inaugurations.
President Trump will soon join them as the third president not to be present in the capital at the time of the transition of power.
“What we think of as a traditional last day in office is actually more recent than many realise,” said Thomas Balcerski, a presidential historian at Eastern Connecticut State University.
"What's been really significant about transitions and traditions in the last several administrations has been the consistency, the commitment to uphold a peaceful transfer of power, a smooth transition between the certified and ascertained winner of an election and an outgoing president, and to ensure, really, our national security."
A meeting of the families
The day often starts with a meet and greet between the two families.
"They will receive the incoming president and first lady. What had been typical was actually to have tea at around 10 in the morning, which would last about an hour. They would then take the ride together [out of the White House], incoming and outcoming presidents and first ladies respectively, in two different vehicles to the Capitol. They would then gather inside the Capitol," said Mr Balcerski.
This is the build up to the public inauguration that now takes place on the west side of the Capitol building, a tradition started by former president Ronald Reagan.
Pardons until the very end
Perhaps the most interesting final act of a president is the issuing of pardons. Mr Trump is expected to pardon more than 100 people. This is a tradition that put some former presidents in hot water.
"Bill Clinton really set a new standard by signing more than 140 pardons on his last day, so in a sense, there's continuity between what President Trump is doing and what president Clinton and others did," said Mr Balcerski.
Mr Clinton famously pardoned his brother and international fugitive Marc Rich. “Before this [president’s last day], we looked at Clinton's last day as the most infamous of recent memory,” said Mr Balcerski.
John Adams used his last night in office to appoint judges. It was a much debated move that led to the establishment of judicial review, the power of US federal courts to declare legislative and executive acts unconstitutional.
Dear Mr President…
There is also the tradition of leaving the successor a letter. In the early days of his presidency, Mr Trump often showed off the letter former president Barack Obama had left him. Mr Trump may well choose to spurn yet another tradition and not write Mr Biden a letter.
It would be one last deviation from an administration full of them.
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Gallery: The US during the Trump presidency
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Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump leave the stage after the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on September 26, 2016. AFP -
Demonstrators hold up placards in protest a day after Donald Trump’s victory, during a rally outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on November 9, 2016. AFP -
Paul Ryan, speaker of the US House of Representatives, vice president-elect Mike Pence, and president-elect Donald Trump leave the stage after speaking to supporters at a Thank You Tour 2016 rally on December 13, 2016 in West Allis, Wisconsin. AFP -
President Donald Trump takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts, as his wife Melania holds the Bible, and with his children Barron, Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on January 27, 2017. AP -
Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 20, 2017. Reuters -
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump dance at the Freedom Ball in Washington, DC on January 20, 2017. EPA -
US President Donald Trump sits in the drivers seat of a semi-truck as he welcomes truckers and CEOs to the White House in Washington, DC, on March 23, 2017, to discuss healthcare. AFP -
US First Lady Melania Trump listens while US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before a meeting with Argentina's President Mauricio Macri in the Oval Office of the White House on April 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. AFP -
US President Donald Trump and US First lady Melania Trump, pose for a picture with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Saudi Arabia's King Salman during the inauguration of the Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology "Etidal" in Riyadh, on May 21, 2017. AFP -
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wave as they board Air Force One before leaving Riyadh to Israel, on May 22, 2017. AFP -
US President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in Jerusalem’s Old City on May 22, 2017. AFP -
Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House in Washington, on July 17, 2017. Reuters -
White nationalists participate in a torch-lit march on the grounds of the University of Virginia ahead of the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2017. Reuters -
Donald Trump pauses to drink water while touting his foreign policy accomplishments during his trip to Asia in a speech in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on November 15, 2017. EPA -
US President Donald Trump gestures as he meets with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. AFP -
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin adjust their earpiece plugs during a joint press conference following their summit talks at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018. EPA -
US President Donald Trump speaks alongside fast food he purchased for a ceremony honoring the 2018 College Football Playoff National Champion Clemson Tigers in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2019. AFP -
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tears up a copy of the State of the Union address that US President Donald Trump just delivered, as US Vice President Mike Pence looks on, in front of the floor of the US House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 4, 2020. EPA -
US President Donald Trump holds the front page of the Washington Post with headline 'Trump acquitted' as he speaks in the East Room of the White House a day after his Senate impeachment trial acquittal in Washington, DC on February 6, 2020. EPA -
Donald Trump participates in a meeting with African American community, business and faith leaders in the Cabinet Room prior to the National African American History Month reception at the White House in Washington, DC on February 27, 2020. EPA -
President Donald Trump holds up a Bible as he stands in front of St John's Episcopal Church across from the White House after walking there for a photo opportunity during ongoing protests over racial inequality in Washington, June 1, 2020. Reuters -
Donald Trump arrives for the Independence Day events at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, South Dakota, on July 3, 2020. AFP -
Donald Trump walks towards the media platform surrounded by his secret service detail after arriving on Air Force One at Sacramento McClellan Airport in McClelland Park, California, on September 14, 2020. The President visited Sacramento County to be briefed on the deadly wildfires that had burned more than three million acres across California. EPA -
Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed hold up documents after participating in the signing of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the UAE recognise Israel, at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2020. AFP -
President Donald Trump speaks, with a flag behind him, during a campaign rally at Cecil Airport in Jacksonville, Florida, on September 24, 2020. Reuters -
Donald Trump, Joe Biden and moderator, NBC News anchor, Kristen Welker participate in the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. AFP -
President Donald Trump returns to the White House from playing golf in Washington, DC on November 7, 2020, after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election. AFP -
An explosion caused by a police munition is seen while supporters of US President Donald Trump gather in front of the US Capitol Building in Washington, on January 6, 2021. Reuters -
US President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up after touring a section of the border wall in Alamo, Texas on January 12, 2021. AFP
