204 a short history of the united states
The overthrow of the czarist regime in Russia, the ultimate victory
of the Bolsheviks over the Whites, and the establishment of a commu-
nist state unleashed a wave of isolationist sentiment throughout the
United States. The American people were in no mood to involve them-
selves any further in European affairs, and this hostile attitude rein-
forced the opposition of those in the Senate who were incensed by
Wilson’s failure to invite a congressional delegation to accompany him
to Paris to attend the conference. And these senators, led by Henry
Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts, chairman of the Senate Foreign Rela-
tions Committee, were determined to block ratification of the Ver-
sailles Treaty. They contended that the treaty jeopardized American
security and the nation’s traditional foreign policy of neutrality. In ad-
dition, it did not exclude internal affairs from the jurisdiction of the
League, and it contained no recognition of the Monroe Doctrine.
Lodge therefore tied the treaty up in committee for six weeks in order
to arouse public opposition against it.
To counter his opponents, Wilson took his case directly to the peo-
ple in September 1919 and pleaded his cause. He traveled nearly 10 , 000
miles by railroad and gave dozens of speeches. But his health broke
and, after attending a rally in Pueblo, Colorado, he collapsed. A few
days later, on October 2 , he suffered a massive stroke and could no lon-
ger continue the fi ght.
Meanwhile Lodge offered fourteen reservations, one of which re-
jected the obligation of the United States to preserve the inde pendence
and territorial integrity of member nations. This obligation, said Wil-
son, was the heart of the treaty, and he refused to delete it. The public
expected the two sides to agree on a compromise, but the President
would not hear of it and thereby lost public support. Instead, he called
on Democrats to defeat these reservations. Thus, on November 19 , 1919 ,
when the treaty came up for a vote in the Senate with Lodge’s reserva-
tions attached, it was rejected. Then, a motion by Democrats to ratify
the treaty without reservations also went down to defeat, 53 to 38. To a
large extent, Wilson killed his own treaty. Not much later Congress
adopted a resolution declaring the war with Germany at an end. Wilson
vetoed it, and the House failed to pass it over his veto.
Isolated and incapacitated, Wilson announced that the approaching
presidential election of 1920 should be a “great and solemn referendum”