Cuba Action Is Obama’s Latest Step Away From 6 Years of Caution

President Obama is putting his most ardent Republican critics on notice: Remember what I vowed to do as a candidate in 2008? I have two years left in office, and I intend to do it all.

Mr. Obama’s decision on Wednesday to radically shift United States policy toward Cuba is the latest and most striking example of a president unleashed from the hesitancy that characterized much of his first six years in office. It follows decisions by Mr. Obama to defy Republicans on immigration, climate change policy, the regulation of the Internet and negotiations with Iran.

Gone are the cautious political calculations that consigned contentious issues to secondary status.