The Mess Of History
Hugh Hewitt > Blog
Monday, June 22, 2026
British Labour PM Keir Starmer is stepping down after just two years. Britain is in a shambles, but I have not followed the mess closely enough to get into the details. What’s interesting is his resignation speech. He is attempting to set a narrative for his service. He is, by any objective measure a failure in the job, but he is doing his best to make it look otherwise. The spin he is putting on current events may win the day for a moment, but history can be a cruel task master.
These events put me in mind of another “stepping down” speech. No, not Biden’s equally egotistical speech about dropping out of the race. I am referring to Richard Nixon’s speech in which he resigned from the presidency proper. Some of us are old enough to remember it. I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing when Nixon delivered it. It contained a line that by today’s standards seems archaic and quaint, but that communicated a sentiment that I wish more Americans held these days:
I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first.
Both Biden and Starmer put the interests of their party first. Nixon put the interests of the nation first. But I think more Americans are beginning to get the picture. Nixon is undergoing a bit of an on-line revival. Young people in particular are beginning to understand two very important things. One, most history teachers teach a narrative, not history. Two, Richard Nixon’s legacy is far, far more complex than simply scandal and that on balance he was better than a lot of presidents.
Most striking to me in reviewing Nixon’s resignation speech is its blunt honesty. That honesty stands in sharp contrast to the lie that was the entire Biden administration and especially the lie that he was capable of doing his duties in office even as he dropped out of the electoral race.
Nixon resigned August 8, 1974. A mere 23 months later the nation celebrated its bicentennial. It was a massive and overwhelming affair and a display of incredible patriotism. Everyone was proud to be an American. The nation had survived a crisis and done so well. Nixon’s blunt honesty played a significant role in that – one denied us in this age of spin and self-centeredness.
A multi-day poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos found that roughly 40 percent of Americans do not believe that the country will endure for another 250 years. Among Republicans, 75 percent said the United States would still exist in 250 years, compared to 60 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of independents. The same poll found that only 27 percent of Democrats plan to fly the flag on July 4th while 64 percent of Republicans plan on doing so.
In 1976 you could not step out the door without seeing the flag or some other red, white and blue decoration. These days at least half the nation will apparently be embarrassed by such displays.
That would be distressing were it not for things like the Nixon revival and the Starmer resignation. Biden and Starmer have both been forced out by reality. Young people are seeking truth, nuanced, complicated truth rather then the simple, one note narratives that dominate modern history teaching. I do not think it is coincidence that this trend is parallel to renewed interest in religious faith among the young. There is hope.
ADDENDUM: While we are discussing the sham that was the Biden administration – Remember about a week ago when I declared Gavin Newsom’s presidential aspirations dead? There is new evidence that I am on the right track. One begins to suspect that Democrats are trying to shove him out of the way before things begin in earnest.
