The expectation was that this would be a speech tinged with hubris and bitterness.
The consensus was that it would be a greatest hits farewell threaded with frustration that America didn’t appreciate him despite the achievements, as he’d see them, of his one-term presidency – from a booming economy, record employment, historic infrastructure bills, climate commitments and more.
But as the sun set on the Biden White House, he prepared to deliver a speech that would be a surprise.
With the words and a setting that carry such weight – “My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from the Oval Office” – it was his last opportunity to mould his own legacy.
And far from being a list of achievements, it was instead a siren song farewell.
“I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern,” he said.
“There is a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people. The dangerous consequences of their abuse of power is left unchecked.”
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Then a line he perhaps hopes will echo long after he is gone.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”
It was instead an extension of his ‘Trump is a threat to democracy’ argument. The danger extends, he said, to the billionaires around the president-elect. He didn’t name Elon Musk but he didn’t need to.
If some see Mr Musk as a product of American opportunity – an immigrant with great ideas and entrepreneurial nous, Biden sees him as an agent of unchecked power.
But his warnings went further.
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“I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well,” he said.
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.”
President-elect Trump has tapped at least 13 billionaires to serve in his administration – chosen, he’d say, because of their success.
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The extent to which tech moguls have bowed to Donald Trump, and so fast, has been striking.
Expected alongside Elon Musk with front-row seats at the inauguration on Monday, are Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos and TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew.
President Biden knows that no one writes their own legacy; it’s for others to do that. And so his message seemed to be – ‘wait and see; my legacy will be that I was right, right about the dangers of Trump and his cohort, right about the erosion of truth.’
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And that, yes, in time, beyond his time, his own achievements will be recognised.
“You know, it will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together,” he said, “…but the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come.”
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Right now, he is the man who precipitated Donald Trump’s return. He is the faltering figure whose hubris prevented him from stepping down before it was too late. He’s the foreign policy president who couldn’t control a chaotic world.
But legacy isn’t set at the moment. It’s cemented long after.
To a great extent, his legacy will be dependent on the next four years of President Donald Trump.
