you're moving the goalposts, amigo. We were an empire after WW1. Our involvement was the deciding factor in that war, we had foreign military bases, when our economy busted it busted the world economy. All before WW2, where we were again the deciding factor in the European theater while basically dominating the Pacific theater single-handedly. We literally fought a war on two fronts and won the fuck out of both.Well you did a little more than defeat them...
But I wouldn't say the merikan empire was up and running till after ww2