The Lusitania always bothered me. Wilson went to war, using the Lusitania as an excuse... 2 years after it sunk.

It is definitely kind of weird. At the time it sank, there was absolutely genuine anger. You had people howling for blood, you had people attacking Germans in America in retaliation for it, you had freaking Teddy Roosevelt saying he was going to get the Rough Riders back together to go kick Germanys ass (and initial reports were that he would have a million man army to do it with), and all of that. Then Wilson decides to ignore it, calm everyone down, and run for reelection on an isolationist platform. Ironically, using Lusitania as an example of "This is why we should be isolationist."

Then, on the orders of the Kaiser, Germany starts doing unrestricted subs again, they sank a few US Merchant ships before the call really got out to watch their backs, and British Intelligence leaks the Zimmerman Telegram (as I said, a year late). Then you have Wilson suddenly getting as worked up as Teddy did, and even going "You know what?! We should have smashed them the first time!"

Just in case people thought voters having the memory of a goldfish is a recent issue.