II.

The Covenant and the United States

In 1918, as one of his 14 points summarizing Allied war aims in World War I, President Woodrow Wilson of the United States presented a plan for a general association of nations. The plan formed the basis of the Covenant of the League of Nations, the 26 articles that served as operating rules for the league. The covenant was formulated as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I in 1919.

Although President Wilson was a member of the committee that drafted the covenant, it was never ratified by the US Senate because of Article X, which contained the requirement that all members preserve the territorial independence of all other members, even to joint action against aggression. During the next two decades, American diplomats encouraged the league's activities and attended its meetings unofficially, but the United States never became a member. The efficacy of the league was, therefore, considerably lessened.