Hey, Obama's last two years could be awesome

What else might an unfettered Mr. Obama do? First, he might realize that there is yet another election. Reagan is the only lame duck to have handed over the presidency to his own party. The lame duck who wants to be loyal to his party needs to avoid taking unpopular actions during his successor’s campaign. This means that Mr. Obama should concentrate his unilateral actions now, before the 2016 campaign begins in earnest.

Second, he should think about doing and saying those needful things that only a president who is not again seeking office can say and do. He might find a way to, finally, close the Guantánamo Bay prison complex. Or just before the 2017 inauguration, he could commute the sentences of the 50,000 nonviolent drug offenders who have been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison. That would be memorable.

Could a Republican successor reverse these actions? Not easily. Executive action often creates new contractual obligations (as Mr. Bush’s bailouts did) and new rights (as Mr. Obama’s immigration action has) that are hard to roll back. Finally, he should heed the example of Eisenhower, whose 1961 farewell address warned of the military-industrial complex, and not forget the importance of last words. So far, his most memorable line is the slogan that helped him in 2008. Can Mr. Obama became our best lame duck? To paraphrase him: Yes, he can.