It is impossible to feel anything other than a deep sense of sadness about the circumstances surrounding the conclusion of Joe Biden’s long and for the most part distinguished political career.
Little more than 18 months ago, in April 2023, he made a triumphant visit to his ancestral home of Ireland and was given a rapturous reception on both sides of the border.
Had he taken the opportunity at around the same stage to announce that, at the age of 80, he intended to stand down from public life after completing his term of office in Washington, he might well have been remembered as among the most distinguished presidents of the modern era.
Instead, after returning to the US later in the same month, Mr Biden declared that he would run for re-election, a decision which proved disastrous at every level as it rapidly became clear that the physical and mental condition associated with his advanced years meant that his 2024 campaign was entirely doomed from the start.
His belated withdrawal last July left his replacement as the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, at an enormous disadvantage in the contest which she ultimately lost to Donald Trump.
Mr Biden also caused profound international concern during the same period by his appalling failure to hold Israel to account for the carnage resulting in the deaths of up to 50,000 men, women and children in Gaza.
As he prepares to finally leave the White House, one of his last actions was to issue a hugely contentious presidential pardon ensuring that his son, Hunter Biden, would no longer face criminal proceedings.
Read more: Biden pardons his son Hunter despite previous pledges not to
At a human level, it is easy to understand why a father who has suffered dreadful tragedies in his family life would take such a step.
A matter of weeks after he was first elected as a US senator in 1972, his first wife, Neilia, and baby daughter Naomi were killed in a road traffic accident which his young sons Beau, who was later to die from a rare form of brain cancer at the age of 46, and Hunter were fortunate to survive.
Hunter Biden, who has been open about his addiction issues, was prosecuted on tax and gun charges over recent years, some but not all of which had dubious aspects which needed to be carefully examined by the courts.
Instead, his father, despite having publicly promised that he valued his integrity above all other considerations and would not use a pardon in the way that Mr Trump and Bill Clinton had done, still intervened to prevent a trial.
Mr Biden’s double standards can only leave a dark shadow over his legacy, and illustrate why so many ordinary citizens have such little faith in their political leaders.
