The Mild Reservationists and the League of Nations Controversy in the Senate

Book excerpt: During the years 1919-1920, President Woodrow Wilson unsuccessfully struggled to persuade the Senate to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and thereby bring the United States into the newly created League of Nations. In considering the defeat of the treaty in the Senate, historical attention is usually directed toward Wilson and his ardent opposition, Republican Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge and the irreconcilables. Such studies tend to neglect the mild reservationists, ten Republican senators who played a prominent part during this decisive period.