How ‘God Bless America’ Became America’s Anthem
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July 3 (Bloomberg) -- The “God Bless America” that we knowtoday was forged from collaboration between its composer, IrvingBerlin, and Kate Smith, the performer who first made it famous.Behind the scenes, though, the two of them battled for controlof the song.
The story begins in 1918, when Berlin was drafted as anArmy private, a few months after he officially became a U.S.citizen.