President Trump left for the Middle East and Europe today, amid a domestic firestorm that is fanned by concerns over intelligence leaks and hints of obstruction of justice. Leaving home for foreign lands may seem to be just what the president needs, and his advisers can be forgiven for believing that a respite from domestic politics could be useful: Mr. Trump will probably be well received by foreign leaders, particularly those in the Middle East.

But there are lessons from history that suggest that using international trips to quell investigations at home doesn’t work. Indeed, when President Richard Nixon went to Saudi Arabia and Israel in June 1974 to change the domestic narrative and score an international victory, it failed spectacularly. He resigned a month later.

Nixon took off to the Middle East in a strong international position. He was making real progress on nuclear arms control with the Russians. The United States and the Soviet Union had recently signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty and the Antiballistic Missile Treaty. And during the trip to the Middle East, Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev indicated that Moscow was ready to sign a ban on underground nuclear testing.

The 1973 war in the Middle East was over, the United States had weathered the Arab oil embargo, and Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, were consolidating America’s position in the region, by marginalizing Soviet influence and redefining local relationships. Nixon’s trip to Israel, the first of a sitting United States president, came after months of intensive “shuttle diplomacy” to secure peace in the region. In Egypt he received a hero’s welcome and concluded an agreement with Cairo that would help pry Egypt from its dependence on Moscow. In Saudi Arabia, Nixon was the king’s guest at a lavish banquet in the president’s honor.