HONOLULU (AP) – President Barack Obama rang in 2014 by declaring a “year of action,” vowing to strengthen the nation by focusing on fairness, competitiveness and the power of American diplomacy. Since Congress seemed unwilling to help, the president said he’d act alone.
On immigration, climate change and U.S.-Cuba relations, at least, Obama stayed true to his word, reshaping on his own decades of American policy he argued had outlived its time. In a flurry of executive decrees taken over the heads of lawmakers, Obama added major notches to his legacy and tackled important issues for key support groups.
He also angered Republican lawmakers along the way and suffered a crushing midterm election defeat.
“America does not stand still, and neither will I,” Obama said in his State of the Union address in January.
All told, Obama issued more than 80 executive actions and related measures this year, according to a report by the White House Monday compiling the president’s memoranda, orders and directives to federal agencies. Many were designed to use existing laws to meet new objectives, accomplishing what Congress couldn’t or wouldn’t get done through new legislation.