The job is supposed to be apolitical, but German President Joachim Gauck - who has announced he will not seek a second term in 2017 - never had much of a chance of gliding above it all.
The foreign crises were bad enough, from the fallout of the global financial crisis to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
But Germany has also had a busy four years, between a surge of refugees that, at times, seemed ready to destabilise the country, to a resurgence among far-right parties that has prompted much soul-searching.
In general, Germans have found Gauck, 76, a former Luthern pastor and rights activist from eastern Germany, up to the job.
A recent survey showed that 70% of Germans would like him to stay in the job.
Gauck has indicated that he is flattered by the approval, but told a gathering in Beijing in March that there were other factors to consider. “You have to think about your physical and mental capacities,” he said.
It was seen as an indication that he might be thinking of calling it quits, especially after many observers had noticed that the business of standing for long stretches at receptions was becoming taxing.
The refugee crisis was one of the hardest squares to circle for Gauck.
As refugees poured into Germany in 2015, xenophobic attacks against them also rose.
That prompted Gauck to make public condemnation against “the dark Germany” that engaged in such attacks.
But he also tried to be a realist, declaring in October that Germany had to be aware of its limitations.
The rise of far-right groups like the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party also required a delicate touch.
Whereas others sought to sideline them, Gauck argued that it was important to hear what the AfD members had to say.
Germany had to have the courage to allow democracy to play out, he said: Tension and differences of opinion are simply part of it.
In the end, he managed to generally restore the prestige to an office that was fumbling after its past two occupants had both left before the end of their terms.
That was never a given when he started: Chancellor Angela Merkel was widely reported to have only tepidly backed his candidacy.
At the time, when asked if he was afraid of the high expectations that came with the office, he said: “Fear has never been a major theme of my life.”
But he also cautioned Germans that they had not installed a miracle worker into office either.
Initial signs were dim, as speeches failed to resonate and his focus on human rights didn’t make much headway.
He seemed to get his footing in January 2014 when he spoke at the Munich Security Conference, urging Germany to stop using its Nazi history as an excuse to no longer get involved on the international stage, even advocating sending troops abroad when needed.
