No it wasn't. He was running for a second term. That's hardly early. And he CRUSHED. Then he did something no one had done. He ran for a third term. The results?
Popular vote was 54-44. Electoral was 449-82 (84%-15%). Still massive. But wait! There's still more!
His 4th election...53-45 popular. Electoral 432-99.(81%-18%) Another massive landslide.
I'm not trying to defend the guy. I don't like him. But the guy was MASSIVELY popular. In terms of electoral politics, he's Babe Ruth. No one is better.
It was early if you consider how many terms he had.
I would be curious to know if he had those numbers later; my suspicion is he did not (though I would be open to be proven wrong, of course).
My suspicion is that the Democrats saw those numbers and pulled out all the stops in their propganda machine, never looking back.
A factor in these landslides was the iron grip over the media. Editors who tried to speak ‘Truth to Power’ found themselves in the bread lines. Today we have numerous media outlets that can and do find the truth.