His 330 Studies in the History of American Thought: War and American Memory, 1917 - 1945. In this course we will study American attitudes toward war during the period of the World Wars. Americans were uneasily adjusting to the new role of the United States in the world. Initially enthused by Woodrow Wilson's crusade to make the world "safe for democracy" in 1917, most Americans two decades later looked back on the Great War as a mistake. This view of the past complicated Americans' responses to German and Japanese aggression in the 1930's. We will explore the effects that memories of the First World War had upon the Second, and more broadly, examine how our memories of the past influence our understanding of the present. We will do so by looking at a variety of primary sources, ranging from Presidential addresses, to Hemingway and Vonnegut novels, to SUPERMAN comics. A good memory is useful, but not necessary.