In the years leading up to 1917, America was strongly isolationist. We wanted no part of the European conflagration, and Woodrow Wilson was elected to a second term in 1916 on a platform of: "He kept us out of war." At the same time, women in America were agitating for the right to vote, and didn't want the country distracted from their cause.

In the years leading up to 1917, America was strongly isolationist. We wanted no part of the European conflagration, and Woodrow Wilson was elected to a second term in 1916 on a platform of: "He kept us out of war." At the same time, women in America were agitating for the right to vote, and didn't want the country distracted from their cause. Women demonstrated in front of the White House all during our involvement in the Great War, and lost a lot of support for doing so. Written by two men, this song has become a women's and a peace anthem still popular today.