When major changes happen, it is often difficult to realize they are underway when you re knee deep in day to day life. But when you take a step back and look at things on a larger scale, you can take stock of just how far progress has come.That is the case with a lot of what has been accomplished since President Obama was sworn into office at noon on January 20, 2009. Oddly, conservatives may be able to appreciate this more than the progressives who support Obama and voted for him twice. In their eyes, Obama has been radically remaking America, while progressives may often feel as if things aren t changing enough.Michael Grunwald s piece in Politico Magazine, of all places, goes through the Obama presidency and takes stock of the major changes that this president has engineered, many of which will reverberate through generations.Here are 10 of the things (and there are a LOT more) President Obama did:Grunwald explains further that Obama has not gotten a lot of these innovations   and many more   because he s been more focused on getting them done than taking a victory lap over them. He was determined to make his presidency consequential, as he believed Democrats and progressives had not done all they could to make as many lasting changes as they should have. He paid for some of these efforts through a loss of Congress to the GOP and a drop in his approval rating even as those who disapprove of him have benefitted from the stronger economy and widened safety net.The Obama years have delivered on a huge amount of  change you can believe in. Featured image via Wikimedia