No One Remembers

[Sumpter250]

One could argue that the Spanish American War set the stage for the Pacific half of World war II. By conquering Spanish held islands in the Southeast Pacific, the US would have a strong hold near Asia. At the time, Teddy Roosevelt encouraged Japan to be more imperialistic, with the hopes that the US could trade freely anywhere Japan conquered.

I strongly suspect that the above statement wasn't learned in a public school. It's been an age since I last heard reference to it, and it's not the only time leaders of that era, thought in those terms.
We, as Americans, have a lot to be proud of, but there are still..... "skeletons in our closet".