I don't know that that's the right lesson to take away. Our history, hell our current actions, aren't the best. It's incredibly disappointing to learn about how much fucked up shit we've had domestically or caused internationally. Especially things that were against our professed values.

But this shouldn't be viewed as something Americans are uniquely capable of. It's the same thing as branding all the nazis as inhuman monsters -- its important to recognize that they were ordinary humans, so that we remain acutely aware of what humanity is capable of. At any given time.

There's plenty of ongoing genocides throughout the world that aren't being perpetrated by the US. History is filled with horrible crimes by other countries, some who were adversaries to the US. It's entirely likely that any successor the US will repeat many of the same mistakes. You can see this already in action with China in the South China Sea, claiming international waters as their own to the detriment of fishermen in neighboring countries.

I think at the end of the day, here's the distinction to keep in mind -- the US has caused bad things to happen on an unparalleled scale, but the only thing unique about the US is the resources they have to do it. Any other country in the same position could and has done the same and worse.