He spent his later years advocating for a World War I Memorial at the Washington Mall, but never lived to see this dream accomplished. It should be, for him and all of the other brave soldiers who fought, and the many who died, in the belief that they were saving the world for democracy from the wrath of "the Hun".
In truth, we did save Europe, but in doing so, we set the stage for World War II, which never would have occured had we not entered the war and enabled the French and English to enforce the Treaty of Versailles. If not for that, Germany and Britain, as well as France, and the entire European continent, would have been wholly decimated beyond immediate or even long-term repair, for at least three decades or more. There would have been casualties as massive, if not more, than the eventual result of World War II. Or perhaps Britain may have asked for terms, if possible, in order to salvage what would have been left, if anything, of their beleaguered Empire, which was already during its last stages anyway.
In the long run, democracy, real democracy, might have risen from the ashes of the old de facto feudal industrial states, while Fascism and National Socialism may never have arose. Communism would have proven unable to answer to the direst needs of a ravaged European poplace, and it too might have withered on the vine.
We could have stepped in at some point and really delivered Europe from the ravages which would have been the results of their own leader's arrogance and insanity. An entire century which followed would have looked entirely different.
Unfortunately, there were two viruses that infested Europe in 1918 in the aftermath of the War To End All Wars. One of them was Vlad Lenin and the Bolsheviks.
The second came cloaked in a flag of red, white, and blue,.
