President-elect Donald Trump has assailed much of Obama's foreign policy record.
But in an opinion piece in The New York Times, Kerry wrote: "My hope is that the turbulence still evident in the world does not obscure the extraordinary gains that diplomacy has made on President Obama's watch or lead to the abandonment of approaches that have served our nation well."
He also took a shot at Trump's penchant for tweeting controversial statements.
"Diplomacy requires creativity, patience and commitment to a steady grind, often away from the spotlight," Kerry said.
"Results are rarely immediate or reducible to 140-character bites. But it has helped build a world our ancestors would envy — a world in which children in most places are more likely than ever before to be born healthy, to receive an education and to live free from extreme poverty."
Trump will enter office Friday "armed with enormous advantages," Kerry added, inheriting the world's strongest economy and military, and Obama's diplomatic achievements.
"Diplomacy has helped put the wind at our back, our adversaries on notice about our resolve and our friends by our side," he said.
Kerry is the most traveled secretary of state in history. He logged more than 1.4 million miles in the air over 596 days of travel, the State Department says.
