"A Lot of the Work That We've Done Is Now Beginning to Bear Fruit"

During his interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, President Obama rejected the idea that his recent actions have simply been a response to the defeat of Democrats in the 2014 midterm election and instead suggested that he is now "liberated" to tackle things that he didn't have the capacity to accomplish previously.

...I have spent six years now in this office. We have dealt with the worst economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression. We have dealt with international turmoil that we haven't seen in a lot of years.

And I said at the beginning of this year that 2014 would be a breakthrough year, and it was a bumpy path.

But at the end of 2014, I could look back and say we are as well-positioned today as we have been in quite some time economically, that American leadership is more needed around the world than ever before — and that is liberating in the sense that a lot of the work that we've done is now beginning to bear fruit. And it gives me an opportunity then to start focusing on some of the other hard challenges that I didn't always have the time or the capacity to get to earlier in my presidency.

The President then listed the four domestic issues that consumed most of his first six years: the financial crisis, health care reform, educational reform and immigration reform. While each of those will require continued work, Americans are beginning to realize the fruits of his administration's focus on those major goals.

Now our Chief Executive is saying that his strategic vision will pivot to something he identifies as a "long-term project:"

But what is true is that I'm in a position now where, with the economy relatively strong, with us having lowered the deficit, with us having strong growth and job growth, for the first time us starting to see wages ticking up, with inflation low, with energy production high — now I have the ability to focus on some long-term projects, including making sure that everybody is benefiting from this growth and not just some.

When, during his end-of-the-year press conference, the President said that "interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter," keep in mind that's the ball he has his eye on right now.