History is written by the victors, but is also written by those prepared to lose. For every speech delivered in victory there is another written in case of disaster.
Through compiling both the undelivered and delivered speech, a new archive is created, a Schrödinger’s history, in which all permutations of an event transpire. The Apollo 11 astronauts both make it home and are abandoned on the moon. Eisenhower announces both the success and failure of the D-Day landings. Hilary Clinton both loses and wins the 2016 presidential election.
History is not written in hindsight, it is written in advance.