The timeline of life, when looked back at through the lens of history, becomes greatly condensed. How momentous events feel in the retelling, whether in the pages of a book or the minutes of a documentary film, is very different from how they felt in the moment of their existence. Such is the nature of how we construct narratives and experience the passage of time.

These are important considerations when looking at the Mueller investigation and the question of impeachment. Especially as we consider the lessons from Watergate, those of us who have lived through both crises can remind the younger generations that progress takes time.

For all the #impeachTrump action on social media, we must remember that impeachment, should it come, is a part of a much larger process. It is vital that both the public and elected officials remember that impeachment is not a conviction. Impeachment is a determination by the House of Representatives that there is enough evidence to put the President on trial in the Senate. And impeachment hearings don’t even necessarily lead to impeachment.

. A vote in the House for impeachment is a vote for a trial. In Watergate these developments took time, and were matched with public and private political dramas. I mentioned in an earlier post that we are waiting. But we are more than waiting. We are watching history unfold, in real time, and that can be unpredictable and a deliberate process.

Yes, the historians of the future may condense these months into a few chapters. But we have no choice but to take it as it comes and brace ourselves for where it may go.