Fresh off a tough re-election campaign, President Obama filled his 2013 State of the Union address with a long list of priorities from a leader who had the backing of more than half of the American public.

It didnt take long for a combination of crises and Congress to bring his agenda to a halt. Gun control couldnt even get enough backers to make it out of the Democratic Senate. Immigration reform did, but then stalled in the House. A wave of problems, from the IRS targeting of conservative groups to revelations about the National Security Agencys spying programs to the flawed rollout of HealthCare.gov put the president on the defensive.

Given the administrations recent pledge to focus on executive actions that dont require congressional approval, its possible that Mr. Obamas to-do list for the coming year will be more achievable than that of 2013, which was heavily reliant on lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Heres a look some of the pledges in the 2013 State of the Union address, and how the president did:

Gun Control

The pledge: Overwhelming majorities of Americans — Americans who believe in the Second Amendment — have come together around common-sense reform, like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. Senators of both parties are working together on tough new laws to prevent anyone from buying guns for resale to criminals. Police chiefs are asking our help to get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets, because these police chiefs, theyre tired of seeing their guys and gals being outgunned. Each of these proposals deserves a vote in Congress.

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Obama: We can reconcile gun control, Second Amendment

Recognizing Colorado as a state that has suffered a tragedy of two of the worst mass shooting in our history — Columbine and Aurora — President.

The progress: Mr. Obamas 2013 State of the Union address came just weeks after a horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The violence against a group of children seemed like the most likely impetus to bring the two parties together on a controversial issue, but a year after the shooting, not a single gun control law has passed Congress. Mr. Obama was able to sign a series of executive orders that makes federal background check data more widely available, tracing seized guns, preparing for active shooter situations in schools and other institutions and more aggressively prosecuting gun crimes.

Budget

The pledge: Lets set party interests aside and work to pass a budget that replaces reckless cuts with smart savings and wise investments in our future. And lets do it without the brinksmanship that stresses consumers and scares off investors. Lets agree right here, right now to keep the peoples government open, and pay our bills on time, and always uphold the full faith and credit of the United States of America.

The progress: On this promise, there was both big failure and big success. In October, a standoff between the president and congressional Republicans over Obamacare funding led to a 16-day government shutdown. As part of the deal to end the shutdown, however, Democrats and Republicans agreed to craft a bipartisan budget deal in December. Against the odds, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. were able to write a two-year budget that won approval from a sufficient number of lawmakers to give Washington its first taste of a normal budget process in years. Thats a victory but one for Congress, since President Obama had no hand in the negotiations to end the government shutdown (that was the work of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.) or in crafting the budget.

Climate Change

The pledge: I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress wont act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy I propose we use some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and trucks off oil for good. If a nonpartisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals can get behind this idea, then so can we.

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Obama: Have courage to act on climate change

Immigration

The pledge: Send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months, and I will sign it right away.

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Obama gets heckled during immigration speech

Minimum Wage

The pledge: Tonight, lets declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour.heres an idea that Governor Romney and I actually agreed on last year — lets tie the minimum wage to the cost of living, so that it finally becomes a wage you can live on.

Obama: Income inequality the defining challenge of our time