If Clinton had stumbled in the area of foreign affairs, Bush was prepared with ripostes. It is hard to think of an aspect of modern life that isn't helping to write provisional history. They hold the discarded endings to Fatal Attraction and Patriot Games that only focus groups have seen. Even A Bug's Life, an animated film, concluded with cartoon sequences that seemed like outtakes. It is refreshing to see such things become a noteworthy feature of the historical record.
Provisional history offers just as many cautionary lessons as any other kind.
We are all of us great strutters on provisional history's stage. The archives of anyone's private history contain speeches that were almost made, jokes that were nearly told, phone messages that came close to being left. Attics and basements and bookshelves everywhere are shrines to provisional history, to false starts and flagging ambition. That moldering object in a dark corner of the garage may look to some like an exercise treadmill. Cullen Murphy is The Atlantic 's managing editor.