A great many, even among those who voted for Donald Trump, openly questioned his conservative bona fides during the 2016 campaign. Some of his most ardent supporters (see Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham) quickly migrated from being the self-appointed enforcers of “Principled Conservatism” within the Republican Party to an unqualified endorsement of the new “Trumpian Populism” to justify their support. Others weren’t so sure.

Presently, the talking heads and oracles of politics continue their futile attempts to fit our enigmatic 45th president into a neatly defined box. However, Donald Trump is far too complex, unpredictable, and unique to align with traditional definitions on the political spectrum.

One year ago as the shock waves still reverberated from the realization that “he won – she lost,” the conversation shifted from how to define the conundrum that is Donald Trump to the more important question of, “How will he govern?”

With a book of evidence now established, it can be said with confidence that regardless of some of the campaign rhetoric, imprudent statements, former party affiliations, ill-advised tweets, etc., Trump has established a record that would make even the most conservative leaders in recent memory sit up and take notice.

If the measure of the man is more what he does rather than what he says, then Trump’s first year in office should go far in satisfying some of the doubt that originally left many a conservative heart restless.

Let’s briefly review a partial list of what transpired in 2017:

ISIS “lost 98% of the territory it once held” and “fewer than 1,000 ISIS fighters now remain in Iraq and Syria, down from a peak of nearly 45,000 just two years ago,” according to a recent report from U.S. military leadership.

Eliminated Obama “rules of engagement” that hamstrung our war fighters, advantaged our enemies, and cost many American lives.

Judges: Neil Gorsuch – a strong believer in Constitutional Originalism – confirmed to the Supreme Court to succeed the iconic Antonin Scalia. Trump will likely get additional nominations to the SCOTUS that will move the court in a conservative direction with potential retirements of Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg and/or Breyer.

Additionally, twelve Circuit Court Judges were approved – the most in a president’s first year in office since the creation of Circuit Courts in 1891.

Tax Bill: It might not be anyone’s definition of perfect, but the legislation signed by Trump does check the box on a host of long-standing conservative priorities:

Regulations: The administration eliminated 67 regulations in 2017 while issuing just three new ones, and also pulled the plug on another 1,579 pending regulations that were in the pipeline.

Killed Obama’s Clean Power Plan that would have been an anchor around the leg of economic growth and done virtually nothing to impact the climate or improve the environment.

Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline projects were approved along with expanded production of domestic energy resources that will keep energy costs low.

Jerusalem: Trump defied much of the world and did the right thing by recognizing the Holy City as the capital of Israel as well as by announcing plans to relocate the U.S. Embassy there. His actions comply with The Jerusalem Embassy Act overwhelmingly passed by Congress in 1995, but avoided by other U.S. presidents.

NATO allies have – at long last – increased defense spending per membership obligations they have ignored for years, yielding to pressure from Trump.

United Nations: Ambassador Nikki Haley has emerged as a champion of American interests and values. No more of the “apologist” Obama-era nonsense. She has condemned our enemies, defended our allies, and shown the grace and resolve of a powerful diplomat. Last week she attacked the “inefficiency and overspending” of the U.N. and announced a $285 million reduction in U.S. funding. “We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked,” Haley said. Of nations that vote against the U.S. Haley warned that she would be “taking names” – boldly demonstrating that anti-American opposition during the Trump administration comes with costly consequences.

Illegal border crossings are dramatically reduced since Trump empowered border patrol agents to enforce the law. With fewer crossings, arrests are down by 25 percent. Even with far fewer illegal crossings, ICE arrests of illegal immigrants are up by 40 percent over the previous year, with 92 percent of those arrests being previously convicted criminals, those currently facing criminal charges, fugitives and illegal immigrants who have been previously deported multiple times.

Merry Christmas: Trump made an issue of pushing back on political correctness and the secularization of our culture by the progressive left. Totally comfortable celebrating America’s Judeo-Christian roots, Trump made it again fashionable to say “Merry Christmas.”

A booming economy: During the waning years of the Obama administration, many claimed the near-stagnant economic growth was the “new normal” for the largest economy in the world. Apparently those who actually make the free market economy zing disagree.

Economic growth for the two most recent quarters has exceeded three percent with projections for more of the same or even better in 2018, and that was before the tax reform bill was passed. Job growth is stable, wages and salaries are trending up, and the stock market is in record territory. The Dow Jones Industrial average increased about 35 percent since Trump was elected, creating some $6 trillion of new wealth for investors including “the 55 million Americans with 401(k) plans, the 25 million or so who have IRAs, and the 20 million with company pension plans and employee stock-ownership plans,” as Stephen Moore rightly explained.

If the measure of the man is more what he does rather than what he says, then Trump’s first year in office should go far in satisfying some of the doubt that originally left many a conservative heart restless.

It’s true that Trump’s direct actions cannot be credited with all of those positive economic indicators. However, it is also undeniable that the folks on both Wall Street and Main Street who make the economy hum have given this president a huge vote of confidence. Unlike with the last administration in Washington, the marketplace obviously is pleased with the regulation slashing and tax cutting actions of Trump and the Republicans in Congress.

For sure, much remains to be done. Entitlement reform is desperately needed if deficits and the national debt are ever going to be brought under reasonable control. And, while eliminating the onerous Obamacare penalty mandate was a very significant change in the law, a great deal of reform is still needed to bring more individual choice, transparency, cost control, and quality to health care.

Throughout the campaign Trump blasted U.S. foreign trade agreements, something that unsettled many conservatives who are historically pro-foreign trade. He cancelled Obama’s signature Trans-Pacific Partnership deal on his first day in office, and has already begun or plans to renegotiate other existing trade agreements. While he has attracted more than a few critics, time will tell if Trump’s “America First” policy and actions on trade prove fruitful.

And, then there is foreign policy and national security. Trump went a very long way in satisfying doubtful conservatives with the selection of retired Gen. Jim Mattis as Secretary of Defense and retired Gen. H. R. McMasters as the president’s National Security Adviser. Additionally, after a bumpy first several months, Trump moved Gen. John Kelly from the Homeland Security Department to White House chief of staff; a move that seems to have had a most positive, quieting effect.

Unlike the mistakes of several of his predecessors, Trump seems perfectly comfortable taking advice from his key advisers and letting them execute strategy rather than micro-managing from the Oval Office. Trump and the Republican Congress recently passed a $700 million defense appropriation for 2018, fulfilling another campaign promise to bolster and rebuild our military. With major threats to reconcile such as Iran, North Korea, radical Islamic jihadists domestically and across the globe, an increasingly belligerent Russia, and a militarizing China, Trump will need all the skill, abilities, and confidence of our military and intelligence community to keep America safe and protect our interests.

Trump’s first year was wrought with growing pains as the new administration labored to gets its bearings. And, for most of the year, the Republican Congress seemed incapable of helping the president with much of his agenda. Still, any objective review of 2017 has to acknowledge that a lot of good got accomplished and some positive steps and good groundwork laid for the future. This new president, regardless of some of the questionable tweets and unscripted foibles, has indeed governed in a manner that should leave conservatives proud and encouraged.

Read The Podium weekly; it’s where prominent players in Colorado politics address the big issues of the day.