The standard argument is that once a President is reelected to his second term, his power wanes quickly, particularly after the midterm election of his second term.
That has generally proved to be true, as occurred with Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
But it most certainly has NOT happened with Barack Obama!
The “Lame Duck” Presidency does not exist, as Obama has seen the victories in the Supreme Court on gay marriage and ObamaCare; has seen him move to start relations with Cuba and negotiate an agreement with Iran to prevent nuclear expansion; has led to him speaking openly on the problem of race relations and crime; has led to great initiatives on the environment; and has led to him openly challenging Republicans on a whole host of issues, and when defied, using executive orders as earlier Presidents did to overcome Congressional recalcitrance,
Of course, Obama is helped by the fact that the economy has improved dramatically under his time in office; and by the fact that we are not engaged in a major war with large numbers of troops on the ground, getting killed and wounded; and has no major scandal that saps energy from the office of the Presidency.
So do NOT expect Barack Obama to sit back in his last 12 months in public office, as he has every intention and desire to promote more change in every way he can in the economy, in foreign policy, in executive orders, and in making the Presidency an office of great power and promotion of reform!