Knowing that German's were Christians,anti-Semitic and not happy about the outcome of WW I the War in Europe seemed inevitable. My spin is that he was trying to calm anti-German hysteria in the US. At the time people of German ancestry were the largest immigrant population. After the horrors of WW I many Americans were anti-German and German Americans tried to hide their ancestry. Many Americans were against the going to war over what was happening in Europe.
As I recall Congress declared war after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese helped get us into the war. Realistically the U.S. had been preparing for the inevitable.
I would imagine that the reality is that the U.S. is dealing with ISIS. Both political parties have nothing to gain by not acting to defend against the threat. Even preceding the 9/11 attacks information about the threat was out there. Read some history on that piece of terrorism.