Prevent the Spanish-American War from escalating outside Cuba (or minimize the incidents in the Pacific), or prevent the war itself.
The USA decides to buy Cuba,Puerto Rico and the Phillipines from Spain to have new bases for the expanded US Navy.
Prevent the Spanish-American War from escalating outside Cuba (or minimize the incidents in the Pacific), or prevent the war itself.
Maybe having better coal tenders on the Maine, so it doesn't self destruct. It wasn't the cause, but it was the spark that set off the whole shebang. Without it, maybe both sides muddle along til the yellow journalists get tired of feeding fuel to the fire, and everything dies down.
Keep journalism true, it was yellow journalism that made the war possible
this war was so easy to avoid, except for the perfect confluence of events.
The reason for the Spanish American war, in spite of all the legends and details, is purely that America wanted Manifest Destiny in the form of a republican colonial empire. That is hard to avoid, and doing so will take leaders and powerful men willing to avoid it.
As I've mentioned elsewhere, J.P. Morgan was thoroughly opposed to American imperialism, and offered the Philippines 20 million dollars to compete with the US bid and to buy their own independence. And he was so incensed by American colonialism, he nearly supported William Jennings Bryan against McKinley. So play around with that, perhaps.
as said, you need a causis belli to start the war. the Maine presented such a cause. take away the Maine, everyone now needs to search for another reason. It's not inevitable that another one will be found. OTL was the perfect confluence of events: a rabid cheerleader, a cause, a hapless victim. Americans are notoriously fickle. give them another year or two, and things likely look a lot different.
They'd find one. We went to war with Mexico for no legitimate reason. Pick one for Spain. It's nearby territory owned by a weak European nation far past its prime. It's easy to take.
this war was so easy to avoid, except for the perfect confluence of events.
Butterflies: Teddy Roosevelt. he rode this to fame and to the presidency.