The year 2014 was messy and contentious for our country; but, in the end, a bit stellar, too.
All in all, it was a year of extreme challenges and hard-fought, head-down, stay-the-course victories-- even in the face of constant criticism. Especially for President Barack Obama.
There was an elusive nuclear deal with Iran and the threat of the Islamic State's beheading extremism that didn't even exist when Obama was last elected. There were the dilemmas of Syria's brutality, Russia's land grabs, the Ebola crisis, global terrorism threats, ever-invasive intelligence gathering and even North Korea's cyber-vandalism and attempted extortion of Sony Pictures. At home, a Veterans Administration crisis, Secret Service failures, as well as Ferguson, Cleveland and Staten Island civil rights concerns dominated headlines.
Still, the good points shined brightly.
In Liberia, the Ebola outbreak has slowed dramatically, in part due to Ebola treatment units and community care centers, safe burials, and community engagement supported by the U.S.
The Islamic State has quieted under targeted opposition, while Russia has stopped its manic occupations under U.S. trade sanctions. North Korea's extortion attempt backfired as Americans went to see "The Interview" or bought it online.
Quietly, in the meantime, the president ended the war in Afghanistan -- "the longest war" in American history -- brokered a climate pact with China, thawed 50 years of impasse with Cuba, and oversaw the best year of job growth since the 1990s. America has added 10.9 million jobs in the past 57 consecutive months for the longest streak of private-sector job growth on record.
Along the way, President Obama took executive action to make our immigration system smarter and more accountable, made it possible for 10 million more Americans to have affordable health insurance, raised the minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 and capped student loan monthly payments at 10 percent of income.
Some in Congress whined that he didn't include them. They're right. They'd rather bicker than govern, so he took the actions that he could without the 113th Congress that is considered among the most do-nothing Congress of all time.
During 2014, the country also saw its largest-ever number of high school graduations and post-secondary degrees. The administration awarded $100 million in grants to redesign high schools and announced nearly $500 million in community college grants for job-driven curriculum. The president secured more than $1 billion to invest in early childhood education and launched four new manufacturing hubs. His administration launched "My Brother's Keeper" to keep young men and boys of color in school and expand their opportunities.
The president asked the FCC to protect a free and open Internet and signed into law a bill making it legal for people to unlock their cell phones. He cut fuel use and carbon pollution for medium and heavy-duty vehicles and his administration ordered the reduction of carbon pollution from power plants by 30 percent by 2030. He sent Attorney General Eric Holder to Ferguson as a show of national concern and he appointed a commission on community policing. And he acted to protect and conserve 260 million acres of treasured lands and waters, designated the largest marine reserve in the world, protected Alaska's Bristol Bay from consideration for oil and gas leasing and permanently protected the first shoreline addition to the California Coastal National Monument.
Here's what is confusing.
Gallup says Congress has a 15 percent approval rating while President Obama's approval rating has risen to 48 percent.
The U.S. economic performance has brightened, corporate profits have soared. Consumer confidence has risen, as have the financial markets.
Yet 64 percent of Americans polled by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal between Dec. 10 and Dec. 14 still said they think the nation is on the wrong track.
Just a month before, the pathetic number of us who voted overwhelmingly swept Democrats out of Congress, legislatures and governorships, yet in still another poll 64 percent of likely U.S. voters said they believe Republicans should look for "a fresh face" to run for president in 2016, and just 10 percent thought the GOP should promote a candidate who has run in the past.
Apparently, we just won't be happy with anything.