The celebratory tone of Biden’s parting address to the State Department on 13 January – where he proclaimed that, “thanks to our administration, the United States is winning the worldwide competition”, and that he had “increased America’s power in every dimension” – was jarring given the grave foreign policy challenges he leaves behind. All departing presidents try to burnish their political legacy, and few are inclined to wallow in their failures. But by refusing to engage even legitimate criticisms of his foreign policy record, such as the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, or the incremental provision of military aid to Ukraine, and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, Biden sounded tone deaf, even arrogant.