An Isolationist Anthem: "God Bless America"

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In 1938, with war looming in Europe, Irving Berlin offered popular singer Kate Smith a new patriotic song to debut on her radio show. It’s forgotten today that in the form she sang it, “God Bless America” wasn’t just a patriotic anthem, it was an isolationist one, about how glad Americans should be that they were far from the “storm clouds” gathering “across the sea.” Then, just one day before Smith’s broadcast, the Nazis made one of their most despicable moves yet, and everything changed.

#irving berlin #katesmith #godblessamerica #isolationism #nazis #worldwar2 #johnstrausbaugh #kristallnach #hitler #jews