Some reinvent it for their own purposes. The evil SOBs like Cheney. Others, I think, really don't learn. Like W. (note: I'm not saying he's stupid, just that for whatever reason he seems to honestly not understand that he was repeating a mistake that has been played out many many times in the past and always ends the same). I think teaching people about the past is good, but we also need to teach them about the evil SOBs who will try to reinvent and reimagine the past towards their goal of manipulating us.