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The United States had not been on a war footing since our great armies had disbanded in 1865, thirty-three years before; consequently when the conflict with Spain became inevitable, there was an immense amount of work to do. And a large portion of this labor fell upon the shoulders of President McKinley.

He did not shrink from the responsibility imposed upon him. He had done his best to avert war, but the folly of Spain had left no loophole by which peace could be maintained. The Cubans were suffering untold horrors, on the battlefield and through starvation, and something, had to be done. It was not a war of conquest, but only a magnificent public effort to help another nation establish its freedom.