Things were not so great during the pandemic of a century ago, especially negligent was the federal government and Woodrow Wilson.
The Sedition Act of 1918 (Pub.L. 65–150, 40 Stat. 553, enacted May 16, 1918) was an Act of the United States Congress that extended the Espionage Act of 1917 to cover a broader range of offenses, notably speech and the expression of opinion that cast the government or the war effort in a negative light or interfered with the sale of government bonds. --Wikipedia
Why? Because the federal government wanted to hide the fact that there was a disease infecting the world and ultimately about 650,000 Americans died. The act threatened publication staffs with 20 year sentences for publishing anything about the flu. Writing about it was considered anti-American and damaging to the war effort. The press in the countries that were fighting the war also eschewed writing about the flu. How the pandemic became to be known as the "Spanish Flu" was because people in Spain were getting sick including the King of Spain. Spain was neutral during the war and their press coverage wrote there was a flu affecting not just Spaniards but the world. And that it wasn't just a "grippe" as most press coverage claimed at the time.
Woodrow Wilson did not behave in a way that would be commensurate with what you'd expect given how disasterous and damaging the flu was. Trump may not even be as bad as Wilson was during the pandemic of his time. Trump actually admits there is one. Wilson did not. He got ill during peace negotiations in France and acted completely out of character and seemed "out of his mind" to those who witnessed his behavior. Some historians claim that because of his actions the peace treaty turned out the way it did. You can do with that what you will. (However, there is no excuse for Tump's behavior.)
There is actually very little written about that period of time. Even those who witnessed first hand and survived did not write about it. Personal accounts are scarce.
As we approach 100,000 dead from Covid-19 in just the space of a few months, we need to reflect on the dead this Memorial Day weekend at least long enough to stop cavorting on beaches for a few minutes.
