United States

Calling this reservation a nullification of the treaty, Wilson in September made a long speaking tour of the West to build up public support for unconditional ratification. He suffered a breakdown at the end of his tour and a serious stroke on October 2. The president’s illness, which incapacitated him for several months, increased his intransigence against the Lodge reservations; with equal stubbornness, the Massachusetts senator refused to consent to any compromise. The result was failure to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority for ratification, with or without reservations, when the Senate voted on November 19, 1919, and again on March 19, 1920.

Wilson had suggested that the ensuing presidential campaign and election should be a “great and solemn referendum” on the League. The Democratic candidate, James M. Cox of Ohio, fought hard to make it the leading issue, but the Republican candidate, Warren G. Harding of Ohio, was evasive on the subject, and a group of 31 leading Republican internationalists assured the country that Harding’s election would be the best guarantee of U.S. membership in the League of Nations. Harding swamped Cox (see U.S. presidential election of 1920), and his victory ended all hopes for U.S. membership. In his inaugural Harding announced that the United States would not be entangled in European affairs; he emphasized this determination by concluding a separate peace with Germany in 1921.

Former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson leaving his home in 1921, his health broken.© Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com Arthur S. Link

The United States from 1920 to 1945

The postwar Republican administrations

Postwar conservatism

After the end of World War I, many Americans were left with a feeling of distrust toward foreigners and radicals, whom they held responsible for the war. The Russian Revolution of 1917 and the founding of the communists’ Third International in 1919 further fanned American fears of radicalism. Race riots and labour unrest added to the tension. Thus, when a series of strikes and indiscriminate bombings began in 1919, the unrelated incidents were all assumed—incorrectly in most cases—to be communist-inspired. During the ensuing Red Scare, civil liberties were sometimes grossly violated and many innocent aliens were deported. The Red Scare was over within a year, but a general distrust of foreigners, liberal reform movements, and organized labour remained throughout the 1920s. In fact, many viewed Warren G. Harding’s landslide victory in 1920 (see U.S. presidential election of 1920) as a repudiation of Woodrow Wilson’s internationalism and of the reforms of the Progressive era.

Peace and prosperity

Harding took office with a clear mandate to restore business as usual, a condition he termed “normalcy.” Americans wished to put reminders of the Great War behind them, as well as the brutal strikes, the Red Scare, and the sharp recession of Wilson’s last years in office. Peace and prosperity were what people desired, and these would be achieved under Harding.

Harding, Warren G.Warren G. Harding.Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg no. LC-USZ62-91485)

As part of his policy of returning America to prewar conditions, Harding pardoned many individuals who had been convicted of antiwar activities or for being radicals. His main concern, however, was business. Reversing progressive and wartime trends, the Harding administration strove to establish probusiness policies. Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty obtained injunctions against striking workers. The Supreme Court sided with management in disputes over unions, minimum wage laws, child labour, and other issues. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover expanded the size of his department fourfold during the next eight years in attempts to foster business growth and efficiency and to encourage trade associations and business–labour cooperation. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon, one of the country’s richest men, drastically cut taxes, especially on the wealthy; he also cut federal spending to reduce the national debt.

Mellon, Andrew W.Andrew W. Mellon, c. 1921.Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (neg. no. LC-USZ62-56407)