This brief (about four months) war marked the emergence of America as a world power, and thus marks a turning point in American history. The rallying cry was "Remember the Maine!" and so they did, thanks in a large part to the hue and cry raised by yellow journalists of the time. The battle for the most sensational headlines between Wm Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer certainly fanned the flames of this war. Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders are a colorful part of this war as well.