THE AGE OF OBAMA : Obama's Legacy Takes Shape With The Help Of Unlikely Allies....Health Care Here To Stay... As Firmly Ensconced As A Law Can Be... Legacy Sealed... Vindication... Major Economic Triumph... Prez: Obamacare 'Woven Into The Fabric Of America'...

Associated Press  |  By Julie Pace Posted: 06/25/2015 9:44 pm EDT 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Long past the prime of his presidency, Barack Obama is defying the lame-duck label and solidifying the contours of his legacy with the help of unlikely allies in Congress and the Supreme Court.

Biden/Obama

Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, the high court preserved Obama's signature health care law Thursday, hours before a Republican-controlled Congress paved the way for an Asia-Pacific trade pact at the center of the president's international agenda. The Supreme Court also handed Obama a surprise win by upholding a key tool used to fight housing discrimination.

"This was a good day for America," Obama said, speaking from the White House Rose Garden shortly after the court rulings. For a president deep into his second term, the legal and legislative victories were a vindication of policy priorities that have sapped his political capital and exposed rifts with his own Democratic Party. The back-to-back successes also energized a weary White House, with senior officials and longtime advisers making little effort to hide their glee.

"I don't think that a lot of people expected that a lame-duck president could still very actively lead on every major issue being debated today," said Bill Burton, a former White House and campaign adviser to Obama. more