Why did the United States enter the Great War? Did the U.S. go to war to ‘make the world safe for democracy’? Was the decision to enter the war motivated mostly by economic self-interest? Or was our entry an effort by President Wilson to place the United States firmly on the international stage, the opening act of what publisher Henry Luce would later call ‘the American Century’?

Why did the United States enter the Great War? Did the U.S. go to war to ‘make the world safe for democracy’? Was the decision to enter the war motivated mostly by economic self-interest? Or was our entry an effort by President Wilson to place the United States firmly on the international stage, the opening act of what publisher Henry Luce would later call ‘the American Century’?