This is not my first column to draw from the insight that “history does not repeat itself — but it rhymes.” Curiously my repeated reflections on this quote that is popularly attributed to Mark Twain might appear to negate the first half of that assertion. But, if we consider how Twain’s perspective metaphorically informs the key final word in that utterance, we might glimpse rhymes that might help us more effectively navigate our own puzzling moment in history.
Of course, the ever-irascible Twain, never clarified what he meant by “rhymes.” In that absence, I take the assertion’s final word to mean reoccurring patterns in the unfolding human experience that — like words that rhyme — can lead to unintended, often-regrettable consequences. Consider only the potential confusion that might be derived from one word that rhymes with my last name — e.g. rancor.
We should also contemplate what provoked Twain’s observation. Best guess is that he was responding to misuses of an assertion from a respected contemporary. Harvard professor George Santayana’s line that “Those who fail to learn history’s lessons are doomed to repeat them” is, in my experience, the most frequently quoted line on the value of historical knowledge.
What might those “misuses” be? Twain obviously realized that popular takes on Santayana’s assertion affirm the misleading idea that “history (exactly) repeats itself.” But he was also skeptical, I believe, of its even more devious twin: the notion that “hindsight is 20/20.”
Finally, I believe Twain would agree that these deceiving axioms are particularly alluring when they inform lessons rooted in history that one experiences personally. Just as one cannot understand the call to “Make American Great Again” without considering the experiences of those drawn to it, our responses to today’s ongoing crises in Ukraine and Gaza draw from our collective recent past with certainty informed what we presume is “20/20 hindsight.”
We aging baby boomers were children in the early Cold War years and absorbed from our parents and popular culture a self-reassuring consensus about a truly unprecedented departure in our nation’s global role. However, that impulse was never as pure as many of us recall. When someone suggested to Harry Truman that we were supporting some despicable SOBs in the name of democracy, Truman retorted “but they are our SOBs.” However, when one of these misadventures went badly awry under leadership from both parties in Vietnam, humor and consensus evaporated.
In its absence, conflict became the dominant theme in American politics. Not even Cold War triumph over Russia, a briefly successful Desert Storm venture, nor prolonged prosperity in the 1990s restored the earlier consensus. Instead without the common enemy of the early Cold War years, tensions over a host of old and new issues (e.g. race, terrorist threats, and an increasingly globalized economy that widened income disparities) further fragmented Americans. Meanwhile a communications revolution brought us talk radio, 24/7 TV news, and algorithm-driven social media. All exacerbate conflict and sow confusion.
To be sure, Americans rallied briefly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But conflict soon returned and widened. Election of our first Black president dismayed some Americans while others became disillusioned when Obama’s lofty visions eluded our grasp.
With many of my fellow baby boomers yearning for a selectively-nostalgic past, the promise of restoring a lost greatness eked out an electoral college victory in 2016 in spite of losing by two million popular votes. Four years later and after pandemic-inspired panic revealed Mr. Trump’s limitations, Joe Biden narrowly defeated the incumbent. In response, Trump became the first presidential candidate in our history to not accept defeat gracefully. That is the issue in our upcoming election.
But, more immediately, this is the backstory for our current debates over Ukraine and Gaza. To be sure again, Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine initially spurred a response that echoed the early Cold War consensus. But Mr. Trump, who brazenly displays a preference for Putin and his ilk, has convinced his new GOP to resist support for Ukraine that Ronald Reagan, John McCain and more conventional Republican would have championed.
Similarly, Hamas’s heinous October 7th attack on Israel reawakened pro-Israel sentiments that contributed to its 1948 creation. Although more immediately related to the Holocaust, US support for Israel also reflected Cold War concerns. Located in the strategically-important Middle East adjacent to essential oil-producing nations, Israel became an essential US ally.
However, Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, who for centuries occupied its territories, stirred some opposition among Americans. Since 10/7/23, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s determination to destroy Hamas leaders who cowardly hide behind (and beneath) Palestinian civilians has angrily provoked Muslim Americans and their sympathizers. Without the Cold War consensus, this backlash threatens Biden’s re-election chances.
True to perceived wisdom from Santayana, Americans on both sides of our polarized divide draw from presumed certainties rooted in their own lived experiences in response to these challenges. But whether we attempt to avoid yesterday’s failures or perpetuate its successes, Twain offers wise advice.
Learning from personally-experienced yesterdays blinds us to lessons from countless previous yesterdays. More fundamentally, present-centered hubris blinds us to history’s messiness, to unintended consequences of well-intended actions, and recognition that sincere human attempts to learn from the past often go awry. Like multi-colored shards of countless irregular shapes in a huge, ever-turning kaleidoscope, history’s patterns are ever-changing, easily misinterpreted, and invariably reshaped by future developments that not even the most prescient of us can foresee.
Mark Twain tells us that we cannot restore lost consensus or presumed “greatness” rooted in unique historical circumstances. But we can counter today’s confusion by rediscovering an important rhyme: the capacity for creative, constructive resolution of conflicts that is our greatest inheritance. This should be our North Star as we navigate this puzzling, perilous historical moment.
Mark Banker is a retired teacher and active historian. He can be reached at mtbanker1951@gmail.com
