Strange patterns emerge from history. George Santayana famously wrote that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," while Mark Twain supposedly said that history "rhymes." My favorite observation comes from George Lucas when he was describing not the past, but the plot structure of his "Star Wars" movies: "Every stanza kind of rhymes with the last one. Hopefully it'll work."
That observation — uttered in part about a hero's journey that ended with the death of liberty — speaks to the current state of American democracy. There are obvious lessons for the present to be found in the past, but we can't know for sure whether everything will work out. This is especially true now, with Donald Trump leading America's first successful national fascist movement.
Our political history is defined by the personalities, policies and philosophies of a handful of presidents, the ones who form lasting coalitions, keeping their followers and ideas in power for decades after they themselves leave office. A generation of Americans winds up measuring political reality based on whether someone is for or against that president and everything they represent.
