Was in a position to exact satisfaction from (6)
I believe the answer is:
earned
'position to exact satisfaction from' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.
'was in a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'erned' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for earned that I've seen before include "Gained by working" , "Merited; made" , "'Deserved, merited (6)'" , "Gained by labour" , "Took home" .)