ABSTRACT
By World War I, America stood divided on the cause and preparedness parades like the one in San Francisco hoped to create a sense of duty. The bombing that took place, however, shook San Francisco and the country. Early on, Elihu Root, who served as the Secretary of War from 1899 to 1904 under Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, emerged as a leading advocate of preparedness and led the way in these early efforts to maintain a larger and better-trained military. Also at the center of the preparedness movement was former President Theodore Roosevelt, himself a proponent of a strong military and veteran of the Spanish-American War. A key component of preparedness was the idea of conscription. Conscription remained a frequent topic in The Blast's pages, too, exemplified by its celebration of recent action by the Butchers' Union of San Francisco condemning enlistment of union men in the militia.
