ABSTRACT
Despite Woodrow Wilson's 1916 campaign posture as the peace candidate, renewed unrestricted German submarine warfare forced his hand. In April 1917, at his request, Congress declared war against the Central Powers. American help secured an Allied victory, and Wilson fought to ensure that the Versailles Treaty, which dictated the terms of peace, included provisions for establishing the League of Nations
to maintain world peace. But in trying to secure the treaty's ratification at home, Wilson faced stout opposition from a Republican Senate and faced a personal crisis when he was incapacitated by a stroke. In a devastating defeat for him, the Senate rejected the treaty. Wilson wanted the election of 1920 to be a referendum on the League of Nations, hoping that a Democratic victory would breathe life back into Senate consideration of the Versailles Treaty.
