George W. Bush, it can well be argued, may not have found one (other than the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq). Bill Clinton tried in vain to secure a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and instead got mired in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. 

Ironically, it was President Clinton who, two decades ago, fancied himself the champion of the underprivileged classes – making campaign promises to provide universal health care; overturn the long-standing ban on gays in the military; and seemed to have a strong advocate for women's equality in Hillary. He did so well in the polls with African-American voters that he nearly assumed the mantle of "the first black president."

Fast-forward 20 years, and the actual first American black president is serving out his second term. Right off the bat (his first month in office, no less), he signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Act designed to achieve equal work for equal pay for women. Then, in his second year in office, he enacted the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which – if not universal coverage – is helping provide health insurance to previously uninsured Americans.

And, perhaps most surprisingly, he has done a "180" on his views regarding gay marriage and gays in the military, and succeeded in overturning both the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, which were both signed into law as somewhat reluctant compromises with Congress by none other than President Clinton.

Granted, some of this is Obama's ability to ride the wave of history, much as he rode it onto Pennsylvania Avenue. And his success in reversing DOMA and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" seemed almost a logical punctuation mark to a virtual explosion of gay rights and achievement of equality that were unthinkable in the Clinton era, or even a decade ago.

The president's change of heart on these matters has been in sync with that of a plurality of Americans in the second decade of the millennium. Just last week, the Social Security Administration decreed that federal benefits will now be equally accessible to gay spouses, regardless of whether their state of residence recognizes gay marriage.

A Full-Throttle, If Partly Political, Effort

And yet President Obama has not stopped with those signature accomplishments for gay people. Having tried unsuccessfully to pass a law in Congress banning discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, the president announced last week that he intends to do it by executive order (as he has done to surmount other Congressional roadblocks ).

The ruling would not be comprehensive in scope, as it's aimed at companies that do business with the federal government, but it would be no small accomplishment. Estimates of the number of workers it would protect from discrimination range between 11 and 14 million individuals. It means that corporate giants like ExxonMobil and Archer Daniels Midland Co. – which surprisingly have no such protections on their own books – would need to change their rules to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees from losing their jobs.

At the same time, the announcement, while significant, is likely not without political motivation. Many Democrats in the House – and particularly in the Senate – are facing tough reelection battles come November. In order to secure any kind of legacy, Obama will need the support of the Senate, which is in danger of passing back to Republican control in the midterms. That would surely mean hopeless gridlock for the remaining two years of a presidency that has seen more opposition than virtually any in history.

Still, these landmark achievements for gay rights stand to position this sitting president on almost equal footing with the unprecedented civil-rights accomplishments of President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s. (Ironically, and much to his chagrin, the first African-American POTUS has also born witness to the Supreme Court's stripping of important provisions of Johnson's landmark Voting Rights Act, which in practical terms may make it difficult for some blacks, Latinos and other minority voters to cast their ballots in national elections going forward.)

Indeed, Barack Obama will be remembered for being the first black commander-in-chief; for signing the ACA (better known as ObamaCare) into law, whatever its future outcome; and now for presiding over unprecedented achievements for gay Americans. It's possible that an executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation could help enact the national law he's been seeking throughout his presidency – and, in that respect, perhaps prove even more of a civil-rights accomplishment than marriage equality or military parity.

What may prove equally interesting as President Obama passes the torch in 2017 is the future of women's equality in American life. Might a second President Clinton accomplish as much for women (whose own struggle in many ways has paralleled that of blacks, gays and other minorities in the last 50 years) as this president has for the gay community?

That remains to be seen.