Barack Obama and his disciples began worrying about his legacy even before he took office. He would not be satisfied to be judged competent or good. He was going to be a transformative president. He has been widely mocked for claiming that his election would mark the moment when the seas began to retreat and humanity would be spared the flood and so forth.

But behind the hyperbole, there was conviction.  This administration would do big things.  It would write its name on the pages of history.