In Schlesinger's Journals, Parallels in Time

The newly published journals of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., the historian who died at 89 in February, reflect extraordinary insights into American politics and government that could come only from someone who observed from the outside and participated as an insider.

Schlesinger, a writer and teacher, was a longtime adviser and speechwriter to Democratic presidential candidates and played those roles as a member of President John F. Kennedy's White House staff.

Particularly compelling are parallels between the United States' predicament today in Iraq and Schlesinger's observations more than 30 years ago about the Vietnam War.

How many times has President Bush used such phrases as "precipitous withdrawal" and remarked that only Americans can defeat the U.S. military effort in Iraq? Last April, for example, Bush said: "Precipitous withdrawal from Iraq is not a plan to bring peace to the region or to make our people safer at home. Instead, it would embolden our enemies and confirm their belief that America is weak."

In a journal entry for Dec. 8, 1969, Schlesinger noted that President Richard M. Nixon, who was elected in 1968 having promised to end the fighting in Vietnam, had just given a speech announcing a plan to support the anti-communist regime in Saigon until it was capable of defending itself. Schlesinger correctly described that as "a policy doomed to futility and failure."

He quoted Nixon as saying, "We really have only two choices open to us," which he described as Nixon's "own plan and precipitate withdrawal." Schlesinger wrote that Nixon's simplistic choice "plainly misrepresents the situation and misleads the country."

Another quote Schlesinger noted from Nixon's speech is echoed by Bush today. "Let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that," Nixon said.

There are also parallels from Schlesinger's reflections on the inability of Congress to affect a president who wants to continue fighting an increasingly unpopular war.

In a journal entry from May 11, 1972, Schlesinger discussed his appearance on a panel of historians before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, whose chairman, Sen. J.W. Fulbright (D-Ark.), led congressional opposition to the war. Schlesinger wrote: "The senators were in a state of intense frustration and kept asking what we thought they could do to prevent the President from further escalation. One's suggestions were lame -- a fund cut-off bill; demanding a meeting with the President; going to the country. One can understand their sense of impotence and their rage."

One event important to the Vietnam period has no precise parallel in the current conflict. It was the publication in June 1971 of newspaper reports about the Pentagon Papers, the leaked classified history of how the U.S. government became involved in the war.

In his July 13, 1971, journal entry, Schlesinger wrote that the Pentagon Papers "don't really contain many revelations."

But, he added: "Why anyone ever supposed that Vietnam so involved the American national interest or so threatened the security of the United States as to justify the frightful slaughter and destruction we have brought to this remote and alien country And what it also displays, at interminable length, is the frightening combination of certitude, misjudgment and ignorance that went into the making of decisions. . . . It is not a record of wickedness or criminality; it is rather a record of glibness, illusion and intellectual mediocrity."

National security and intelligence reporter Walter Pincus pores over the speeches, reports, transcripts and other documents that flood Washington and every week uncovers the fine print that rarely makes headlines -- but should. If you have any items that fit the bill, please send them tofineprint@washpost.com.