Wars, pestilence, political upheaval and mass street protests in America were some of the top stories of 2014. Here’s how The Times’s editorial board reacted to the year’s biggest news events as they unfolded.
Enemies No More
In one sweeping announcement, President Obama restores full diplomatic relations with Cuba and ends more than 50 years of hostility and sanctions that probably helped the Castro regime stay in power. The move — which included a prisoner swap — could become Mr. Obama’s most significant foreign policy legacy.
Die-Ins and Protests of Police Abuses
Police brutality became a national issue this summer with the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in Ferguson, Mo., which set off riots in November when a grand jury did not indict the officer involved. The issue spawned a national movement after a New York City police officer was captured on video applying the chokehold that killed Eric Garner, an unarmed black man. After a grand jury refused to indict the officer, demonstrators of all races took to the streets from coast to coast chanting or carrying signs with Mr. Garner’s last words: “I can’t breathe.”
Bombing Syria and Iraq
The terrorist group the Islamic State seized northern parts of Iraq, including the city of Mosul, and large swaths of Syria, beheaded journalists and brutalized and murdered countless civilians in areas under its control. President Obama responded to this new threat by authorizing bombing campaigns against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq. Though he had promised to extract America from wars in the Middle East, he led the nation into this military conflict without Congressional approval, which was just fine with a Congress that has happily avoided debating the war. Mr. Obama has already warned that the fight against the Islamic State will take years.
The Senate Goes Republican
Republicans won control of the Senate for the first time since 2006, and expanded their hold on the House. They campaigned mostly by attacking President Obama on every policy matter, but offered few ideas of their own. No one promised bipartisan compromise, though President Obama suggested there were areas of common interest. The best that Senator Mitch McConnell, the next Senate majority leader, could muster was a vow that maybe the two parties didn’t “have to be in perpetual conflict.”
Putin Invades Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin of Russia shattered notions of cooperation with the West by invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea and then, with arms and military forces, working to destabilize Eastern Ukraine. In response, the West largely cut off Russian banks from credit markets, blocked some technology transfers and imposed other sanctions. By mid-December, Russia’s economy, battered by the sanctions and falling oil prices, was reeling from the collapse of the ruble, rising inflation and capital flight.
An Epidemic Out of Control
The deadly Ebola virus surged out of control in three West African nations — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — before international organizations and advanced nations woke up to mount a belated response. The United States spearheaded efforts to aid West Africa butdropped the ball domestically when a case brought in by a traveler from Liberia was mishandled by a Dallas hospital. By year’s end, steps had been taken to detect infected travelers entering the United States and international aid to West Africa had been ramped up. The virus, however, was still outpacing efforts to contain it.
Executive Action on Immigration
President Obama’s decision to bypass Congress was the most significant development on immigration policy in decades. In allowing perhaps five million unauthorized immigrants to stay in this country without fear of deportation, Mr. Obama drew the outlines of a sensible immigration policy. Many Republicans in Congress are furious, because they don’t want to go there.
The Details of Torture Revealed
After years of delay, the Senate Intelligence Committee released an executive summary of its report on the Central Intelligence Agency’s torture of terrorism suspects, detailing sadistic, illegal interrogation methods, which included waterboarding, beating, sleep deprivation, confining detainees in coffins and “rectal feeding.” It’s time to investigate the perpetrators, starting with former Vice President Dick Cheney and former C.I.A. director George Tenet.
More States Legalize Pot
Several states this year defied the misguided federal ban on marijuana. The country’s first government-licensed, recreational marijuana shops opened in Colorado and Washington State. In November’s midterm elections, Alaska and Oregon voters turned legalization into a trend, approving ballot measures to tax and regulate the drug. Voters in Washington, D.C., also repealed all criminal and civil penalties for personal possession of marijuana. Congress, however, effectively blocked D.C.'s initiative with a rider in the omnibus spending bill, though another rider blocked federal interference with states that allow medical marijuana.
A Minimum Wage Workers Can Live On
Not long ago, the idea of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would have seemed unrealistic. No longer. Low-wage workers captured the public’s attention — and changed the terms of the debate — by calling for a minimum wage that is more than twice the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. In June, Seattle approved a law to raise the minimum to $15 an hour, phasing it in for small and large employers.
Vehicles of Mass Destruction
Deadly safety problems in cars made by General Motors, Honda and others exposed a deeply flawed auto safety system that Congress needs to reform. Lawmakers have expressed outrage about failures by the car companies and safety regulators but so far have passed no laws to make prevent more such negligence or worse.
Same-Sex Marriage Expands Across the Nation
The ripple effects of the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2013 striking down the heart of the Defense of Marriage Act spread with astonishing speed in 2014. Courts struck down bans on same-sex marriage in states like Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia. The number of states where same-sex couples may legally marry more than doubled to 35 from 16 at the start of the year. There’s hope that the Supreme Court could soon extend marriage equality to all states.
A Tipping Point for Justice Reform
After decades of costly and pointless overincarceration, politicians in red and blue states are finally getting smarter about handling crime. And while Congress continued to dawdle, Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. continued to take big steps toward reform, from expanding clemency to calling for an end to felon disenfranchisement.
China’s Shift on Global Warming
For the first time, President Xi Jinping agreed to “peak” China’s emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, by 2030. The United States, in exchange, pledged to reduce emissions to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. This greatly increases the chances of a new global climate agreement at a summit meeting of all nations in Paris next year.
Reproductive Rights Take a Beating
A Supreme Court decision in June upended principles of corporate law and religious freedom to exempt owners of closely held, for-profit corporations from having to provide employees with contraceptive coverage in company health plans under the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, a wave of aggressive new laws enacted in Republican-led states have further limited abortion services. In Texas, a 2013 law has left the state with about 20 abortion providers compared with 41 before the new law. Had the Supreme Court not acted in October to prevent Texas from enforcing two unnecessary rules while the legal battle staggers on, there would be as few as eight providers.
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