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History is awesome. I think it is, at least. Everyone has to learn history, right? We’ve all gone through the basics and learned about the Roman Empire and the American Civil War. And maybe something stuck out and caught your interest — or perhaps not. Perhaps you were uninterested or bored or didn’t see the point in learning about stuff that happened a few hundred years ago.

I’m not here to tell you those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it; you’ve heard that before. And while I don’t find history boring, I do find that phrase boring, albeit truthful. So I’m going to break my argument into two parts: Why I think history is cool, and why I think history is important.

The idea that historians are simply gossips is in no way a new idea. In fact, it appears that it is quoted from Voltaire, the man credited with the idea of the social contract. However, the first time I heard it was from a silly podcast I loved: Hysterical History.

This podcast introduced me to a man named Gouverneur Morris, one of the founding fathers. Of them, Morris has some of the strangest stories I’ve heard. I’m sure the name is unfamiliar to you; however, his work is one of the most famous pieces of American history. We all know the phrase that starts with “We the People,” also known as the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Well, that was Morris.

I will happily share one of my favorite stories of Morris here and why, sometimes, history can just be so silly. Morris had a peg leg; his leg was lost to a carriage wheel. During his time as minister plenipotentiary to France, the French Revolution was in full swing. Morris was a moderately wealthy man and was stormed by an angry mob of revolutionaries who wished to hang him. Morris’ response was to take off his wooden peg leg, stick it above his head and shout that he was an American who lost his limb for liberty, to which the crowd responded with cheers. The bold lie clearly worked, and his date was impressed.

History has some weird stories that, if I had the time, I would regale you all with, like the Boston molasses flood or the time Australia went to war against emus — you know, the bird.

But alas, I need to get serious — at least for a little bit.

I know I said I found the phrase “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it” boring and, frankly, overused. I also said it had quite a bit of truth to it.

Now, I know the 2024 election year was quite polarizing. I am not here to pull punches. What I am here to do is point out a few parallels between the President-elect Donald Trump and history, particularly, European history in the 1940s — or, most accurately, Germany in the mid-1930s.

There are a number of distinctive features of fascism. I’ll start with the most base of them all: a cult following of a dynamic male leader. The president-elect seems to fit in all senses. I mean, he has dynamic moments, and MAGA definitely has a cult-like mentality.

Next: traditional gender roles. The president-elect himself does not follow these gender roles. He is not the husband who comes home at the end of the work day to his wife and children; he is the husband who comes home after a night with another woman to his wife and some of his children. This, however, does not stop him from pushing these gender roles onto women.

The last feature I will discuss is the use of violence to get their way. And for this, I do have quite an example. No, it is not the president-elect saying he would send the military against “the enemy from within” — also known as Americans — although that would work, too. What I am referring to is something that happened a handful of years ago. It was something that Trump, although he was not there, did endorse.

Yes, dear friends, I am talking about the Jan. 6 riot that occurred at the United States Capitol. I do not need to describe the acts of violence that took place — we all heard about them. This was very clearly a misuse of violence in an attempt their way.

History is important. It is a key to understanding the past to make way for a better future. But it is cool, too, for that reason and many others. Do not forget Gouverneur Morris, the senator. He was never a governor.

Reach Audrey Weishaar at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.