Conflicts in the American Century

The twentieth century witnessed the transformation of the United States from an isolationist nation that believed two oceans could insulate it from world affairs into a dominant world power with the ability to shape world events. It was, as Time's influential publisher Henry Luce said in 1941, the American Century.

As the United States engaged in military conflicts around the globe, time and again the nation called upon its citizen soldiers to aid in its defense. The American Century saw the evolution of the NationalGuard from an ill-equipped and poorly trained militia into a modern-day force capable of protecting American interests around the world.