J.D. Vance jokingly compared himself to Richard Nixon yesterday. “Young senator, vice president, writes some bestselling books, is hated by the media… kinda sounds like J.D. Vance,” he said at the Richard Nixon Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California. “I’ve always liked Richard Nixon.”
At the same time, 8,000 miles away, in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian forces struck another ship, further undermining what critics have called “the Vance deal” – the “Memorandum of Understanding” between Tehran and Washington. And that suggests, at a foreign-policy level, the Nixon-Vance parallel is more apt than the 50th Vice President realizes.
Of course, Nixon was Commander-in-Chief and Vance is not. And the Vietnam War is very different to America’s current fight with Iran. But similar to Nixon and ’Nam, Vance now finds himself saddled with the responsibility for a disastrous conflict he didn’t start and can’t seem to stop.
History doesn’t repeat, they say, but it rhymes. “The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker,” said Nixon in his first inaugural address. “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker,” said Donald Trump at his second inauguration. Some 13 months later he launched Operation Epic Fury, beginning a conflict that could still end up being as intractable and humiliating as Vietnam. Trump has not yet sent troops into Iran. But if, come December, global shipping is still stalling in the Arabian Sea, and if Israel is still fighting in Lebanon and regional disaster seems imminent, the President may find himself having to commit to a ground war.
Trump has yet to acknowledge the latest mishap in Hormuz, which he has claimed is open and free for navigation. He wants to move back to domestic affairs. He’s retreating to his safe space on Truth Social – grumbling about stolen elections and pushing the SAVE Act. But the Iranian conflict will not simply go away. Vance must continue to push the deal with Iran, even as hostilities carry on. Peacemakers may be blessed. But nobody said they would have an easy time.
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