In January 1918, Woodrow Wilson gave a speech to Congress that laid out Fourteen Points for peace after World War I. Those fourteen points went into the formal armistice with Germany. However, in negotiations with the Treaty of Versailles, Wilson had to compromise away many of these points so he could save the capstone, the League of Nations. The League of Nations became the main line of contention when Wilson attempted to pass the treaty in the Senate, and there were three factions in the Senate who had differing opinions on it. One group, the internationalists, led by Woodrow Wilson, thought that the treaty should be left as is. Another group, the reservationists, led by Senate Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge, thought the treaty should
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Wilson’s impatience and many reservations in the treaty goaded him to campaign across the country to desperately gain support for the treaty. Although they were fairly popular, Republican senators, most notably William Borah, followed him right after he took a speech, and because of it, lost the support he had most recently gained. The speeches took a hard toll on Wilson, who, had a severe stroke, and left Democrats without leadership in the Senate. The new leader was Senate Minority Leader Gilbert Hitchcock. Wilson met with him right before the vote to tell the Senators how to vote, and his views at this point seemed rather similar to Lodge’s reservations. Despite that, he refused to give into Lodge’s reservations, because of his still outstanding grudge towards him. Wilson’s injuries and his bitterness towards Lodge after traveling across the country cost him dearly, as he became even more uncompromising against the reservations that he spoke out against in the first place. His cross country campaign backfired against him, as his illnesses denied him the opportunity to lead to the passage of his version of a perfect treaty. Wilson’s stubbornness regarding a treaty being passed with reservations also helped to defeat the Treaty of Versailles. His bitterness with the Republicans cost him dearly, denying him passage of the treaty during the first vote. As another failed vote went by later in his term, Wilson still desperately wanted the Treaty of Versailles to pass. So, during his re-election campaign in 1920, he extolled the virtues of the treaty. “The chief question is this,” Wilson
Wilson’s impatience and many reservations in the treaty goaded him to campaign across the country to desperately gain support for the treaty. Although they were fairly popular, Republican senators, most notably William Borah, followed him right after he took a speech, and because of it, lost the support he had most recently gained. The speeches took a hard toll on Wilson, who, had a severe stroke, and left Democrats without leadership in the Senate. The new leader was Senate Minority Leader Gilbert Hitchcock. Wilson met with him right before the vote to tell the Senators how to vote, and his views at this point seemed rather similar to Lodge’s reservations. Despite that, he refused to give into Lodge’s reservations, because of his still outstanding grudge towards him. Wilson’s injuries and his bitterness towards Lodge after traveling across the country cost him dearly, as he became even more uncompromising against the reservations that he spoke out against in the first place. His cross country campaign backfired against him, as his illnesses denied him the opportunity to lead to the passage of his version of a perfect treaty. Wilson’s stubbornness regarding a treaty being passed with reservations also helped to defeat the Treaty of Versailles. His bitterness with the Republicans cost him dearly, denying him passage of the treaty during the first vote. As another failed vote went by later in his term, Wilson still desperately wanted the Treaty of Versailles to pass. So, during his re-election campaign in 1920, he extolled the virtues of the treaty. “The chief question is this,” Wilson