19. The American government downplayed the flu
As the Spanish flu emerged in America, the federal government downplayed the danger. President Wilson and his administration stressed the need for Americans to support the war effort, especially during the first wave. Information regarding the dangers from the flu, already suppressed by wartime censorship, remained sketchy. State and local officials faced the rising numbers of ill and dying with little to no federal support. Even those already ill were urged to report to work, and those who chose to remain at home were belittled for their lack of patriotic duty. Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, did not address the issue of the sickness ravaging the country. He simply said nothing.
His government, determined to maintain war production and the strength of the American economy, urged Americans to report to work. Across the country efforts to control the crisis by local authorities drew the disparagement of the federal government where it affected war production. The absence of national leadership gave rise to con men posing as medical experts, offering cures for the flu. One such huckster, Franklin Duane, who claimed to be a medical doctor, offered pills he called “Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Pellets”. Along with the pills, Duane suggested a positive attitude offered protection against the flu. He was but one of many who profited from the tragedy, while the federal government did nothing to prevent the sale of placebos offered as “cures”.