Abstract
"I have loved but one flag and I cannot share that devotion and give affection to the mongrel banner invented for a league. The United States is the world's best hope, but if you fetter her in the interests and quarrels of other nations, if you tangle her in the intrigues of Europe, you will destroy her power for good and endanger her very existence". These were the words Senator Lodge used when he delivered his speech against the League of Nations, on August 12, 1919, In these words he questioned if the only reason why the Senate rejected the treaty of Versailles was America's traditional reluctance to get involved in European affairs? Certainly not. In fact, many different factors might account for Wilson's failure to win Senate ratification of the treaty that was to set up a short and difficult peace in the aftermath of World War I. Why did the U.S. Senate twice in late 1919 and early 1920 reject the treaty of Versailles?
