IN one of his endless farewell speeches President Obama, with a lack of self-reflection which would be seriously disturbing in Donald Trump, claimed: “I didn’t make any real mistakes”. But the former Nobel committee secretary Geir Lundestad regrets giving him the Peace Prize because his over-hyped presidency fell so far short of what they had envisaged.

His foreign policy was a shambles: helping wreck Libya, Egypt and Syria; falling out with Russia, Israel and Turkey so that only Cuba and Iran can be regarded as new chums.

His healthcare was based on the lie that no-one would lose their doctor or health plan and reducing the number of uninsured by half caused double-digit rises in premiums for the rest. By the end of 2015 two-thirds of Americans told pollsters they thought their country was on the wrong track, so the defeat of Hillary Clinton really shouldn’t have surprised anyone.

Rev Dr John Cameron,

10 Howard Place, St Andrews.