The compression of history

It's always been kind of interesting the way history gets compressed with time. Unless an individual is of special interest or study, his lifetime of actions gradually shrink in time to a summary of a few sentences and the composition of these sentences becomes more and more a matter of consensus. George Wahsington: Father of our country, led the revolutionary army, first president, chopped down a cherry tree, etc. There are a few more entries for Washington because of his place in history and the fact that he is taught as fundamental US history in middle school. But they don't teach slave owner, opressor of women, elitist, evil capitalist, or whatever. What did he do before he was general/president?

Let me just say, I got nothin' 'gainst George, just using this as an example of historical compression and how we all pretty much have absorbed this half paragraph condensation of his life as our collective understanding of the man. You can pick your historical figure and look at the same phenomenon. FDR, new deal, WWII, but also led a significant rise in federal power, supported J Edgar, and tromped on civil rights. Again, you get the idea.

So, when I come across these summaries, Rove and Wilson are starting to get them too as context in their shared story, I always find them interesting as they are the beginnings of the formation of what we call history.

This is from a Reuters piece on Chalabi's convoy being attacked.

"

A former ally of the United States who lobbied strongly in Washington for the invasion of Iraq, Chalabi has made political connections since returning from exile. He also plays a key role in setting oil policy.

But he has struggled to gain popularity among ordinary Iraqis, who see him as one of the politicians who spent many years abroad and then returned to capitalize on the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

He has favored a hardline approach to dealing with Saddam loyalists leading the insurgency, opposing other politicians who say some should be allowed back to use their years of experience in intelligence and security to help stabilize the country.
"