When I visited New York, on the way to Statue of Liberty, they made a stop to a place called 'Ellis Island'. That happens to be the place all the early European immigrants landed. So in some way US was considered a beacon and refuge to the worlds freedom loving people who wanted to make a good life for themselves.

And then there was a guide that talked about Thomas Alva Edison and how the American populace of those time felt and had a sense of pride in Edison. They couldn't match the Universities and post-Industrial revolution/renaissance intellectual capital of Europe, but they were happy that people were building the same intellectual capital in their private enterprises.

But in the mean time Germany bled away its best to the US. Ivy leagues happened in the US. The rest is known history.

The same compounding forces that can cause run away success, when applied in a negative sense, the compounding way, can cause run away destruction.