Gerson remembers what he wants to remember.  The so-called spirit of the past, supported authoritarian regimes to achieve American friendly governments.  The notion that we can transform other countries into copies of ourselves is, in fact, the less sophisticated foreign policy approach.  Trump was right to say that we are not here to tell others how to live.  By allowing other nations to evolve naturally is overall best.  If America's system is best, it follows that other countries will naturally evolve toward it without American intervention.