John Dos Passos was raised primarily by his mother and received an education at Choate School and Harvard University. He was politically committed to individual rights and volunteered for the Norton-Harjes ambulance corps before joining the US Army medical corps during WWI. After the war, Dos Passos traveled the world as a freelance journalist. His political views evolved from social radicalism to social conservatism as he became disillusioned with the Communist party's focus on power over social justice. He published three influential novels between 1930-1936 known as the USA trilogy that examined post-Depression America.