Looking back at 2009, the most important story was the effort of President Barack Obama to transform the politics and economics of the United States.

No one can say that Mr. Obama had it easy when he was inaugurated as President in a historic ceremony on January 20. The United States was reeling from the after-effects of a major financial collapse, which necessitated the TARP bailout program, and was followed by sharply lower prices in the financial markets and a full blown recession with burgeoning unemployment. The automobile industry was particularly hard hit, as were state and local governments. (Just before Mr. Obama took office, some of the TARP money was used for a major bailout of the automobile industry.)

Mr. Obama and the large Democratic majority in Congress first attempted to confront the economic challenges by enactment of a $787 billion stimulus package, which the Administration said was needed to keep unemployment from rising much above 8 percent. The bill vastly increased the size of the federal budget deficit, especially when coupled with subsequent $410 billion appropriations legislation.

At least so far, it would be hard to characterize the stimulus package as a success. Despite claims of jobs “saved or created”, the unemployment rate rose above the level that proponents of the stimulus projected if the package had not been enacted. While much of the stimulus money has not been spent, the emphasis seems to have been on subsidies for state and local governments rather than new “shovel ready” projects.

Another key initiative was the Administration’s effort to remedy climate change by enactment of a “cap and trade” bill. While riddled with exceptions, the legislation would establish a market for permits to emit excessive amounts of greenhouse gases. Opponents derided the measure as a job-killing tax. The measure barely cleared the House and faces a very uncertain future in the Senate. The bill’s prospects were not helped by growing skepticism in the United States of the underlying global warming theory.

But by far the most important initiative of the Obama Administration was the sweeping health care bill, still being thrashed out in Congress. The basic outline would provide medical coverage for about 30 million uninsured people through a system of subsidies, requirements that individuals purchase coverage and fines to larger employers that do not offer coverage. A number of new taxes are also part of the package.

The controversial medical plan has had virtually no Republican support in Congress. Opponents complain that the legislation will impose a huge bureaucracy over one sixth of the economy and, despite Democratic assurances that the program will not increase the deficit, saddle the country with a new entitlement program that it cannot afford.

But beyond the issues associated with the individual components of President Obama’s legislative program, there is an overall pattern here. For all the talk of postpartisanship during the 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama’s program seems very much taken from the extreme liberal Democratic playbook. Indeed, it would not be unfair to suggest that Mr. Obama’s approach is more consistent with European statist models than with the traditional free market approach on this side of the Atlantic.

There were, of course, other important developments in 2009. President Obama’s plan on the war in Afghanistan, unlike much of his other decisions, represented continuity as much as change. Michael Jackson’s death saddened millions. But the big story of 2009, which will very much be played out in 2010, was Mr. Obama’s controversial attempts to reshape the American economy and indeed the way we live.