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With the new administration stretched wafer thin, it's questionable whether the Obama White House, or any White House, could be equipped to handle such an onslaught of problems.

President Obama's first few months in office have been more baptism by fire than immersion in executive leadership.

He's seen an economic crisis deepen, with unemployment rising to levels unseen in a generation. He's seen Mexico's drug war threaten security in America's Southwest. He's seen new challenges, both political and military, emerge in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the fight against Al Qaeda.

And to top things off, North Korea defied the United Nations by firing a ballistic missile, the kind the West fears could be used to deliver nuclear weapons.

"FDR, he had the Great Depression, but it wasn't until his third term until he really dealt with foreign policy issues," he said. "This is ... like it's all coming at once."