Perhaps Jeb? should also bear in mind that, without WWII, the US was likely to remain a second-rate power for much of the 20th. Without WWII, America’s allies/rivals don’t suffer the sort of economic damage that allowed her to capitalize on new markets and expand herself in the economic powerhouse that she became in the wake of WWII. No Nazi regime means no brain drain of vital talent, as Jewish scientists don’t leave a Germany hostile to their very existence, and no Operation Paperclip to capitalize on Germany scientific progress post-war. Without the pressures of war, technologies like jet engines and computers continue to putter along for years after they would have been pressed into service, with countries like Germany and Britain remaining world leaders in the technology rather than US firms. And with the nations of Europe maintaining their empires, the US has fewer chances to make inroads into markets that previously were monopolized by their rivals.