Will It Soon Be 1978 Again?

James Carafano has an analysis of the presidency which most closely matches Obama's:

He followed an unpopular president. He received a strong election mandate. He changed the tone in Washington.

He said that Human Rights mattered. That America's image in the world had to be remade.

He would receive a Nobel Peace Prize.

As the end of his presidency's first year drew near, the future looked bright. He had brought change -- change that mattered.

It was 1977. The next year was very bad.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter negotiated the Camp David Accords, formalizing peace between Israel and Egypt. (It's what won him the Nobel.) He also signed a bill that legalized the home-brewing of beer. Almost all the other news that year proved uniformly bad.

A Soviet-backed coup in Afghanistan paved the way for Moscow's future invasion of the country. Demonstrations against the shah wracked the Iranian regime, paving the way for revolution and the rise of the ayatollahs. Trouble erupted across Africa, from Somalia to Zaire and Zambia, some of it inspired by Soviet meddling.

From there on, national security challenges and foreign policies only worsened. It helped make Carter's stint in the White House a one-term deal.

Why did things go south for Carter so fast? Because America's enemies had taken measure of the man during his first, change-filled year in office. They saw weaknesses they could exploit. In the second year, they made their move.

God help us all if Obama can't have a better second year that Jimduh Carter.