John M. Cooper, Jr. bases his opinion that Wilson was responsible for the failure of America joining the League because of his illness that happened during his speaking tour in 1919. Many factors went into why Wilson chose to do act the way he did and Cooper makes sure to explain them all. The first factor mentioned was that Wilson was ahead of his time and this was directed towards him and his personal role. Cooper states, “Without Wilson, the League fight almost certainly would not have arisen in the first place. A less bold and visionary leader-one who was not ahead of his time-would not have attempted to do so much” (182). Wilson refused …show more content…
to negotiate with the Republicans or with anyone resulting in a down vote on the Treaty of Versailles and withdrawing the U.S. from the League. Others were trying to blame Lodge’s reservations and hold him responsible, but like Cooper explains, Lodge was doing what he was supposed to do. Redirecting his attention back to the blame of Wilson, Cooper goes on to explain Wilson’s psychological state as the main reason for his leadership. He states, “The weightiest circumstances of all was that Wilson was not the healthiest of leaders during the League fight” (186). Wilson’s stroke caused many mental judgment issues to arise and Weinstein and Link explained, “Cerebrovascular accidents, especially ones such as Wilson suffered often affects the victim’s personality and behavior (186). They also go on to explain that the stroke, treatments, and neurological affects held him back from negotiation and agreements due to the stubbornness and self-indulgent he had acquired. Cooper explains that Wilson had a character resemblance to the Greek mythology, Prometheus. He states, “Promethean traits of boldness and willingness to gamble for great stakes formed central aspects of Wilson’s character” (187). This caused Wilson be a daring president who took chances despite the possible outcome. Although Wilson had this trait prior to the stroke, the stroke only made the trait worse and affected him more. If Wilson had been more commutative with Senators and Republics instead of going his own way, Cooper believes the outcome with the League of Nations would have been different.
William G.
Carleton argues Wilson was not responsible for the failure of joining the League because Carleton felt that even if Wilson had agreed to the Lodge Reservation, how sure are we that by Wilson joining in, it would have been enough for America to get in the League? Carleton points out, “Under the Lodge Reservation, every signatory nation had to accept them before the United States could become a member” (194). He uses this proof to support his claim that if Wilson had agreed with the Lodge, but the U.S. still didn’t make it into the League because not all fifteen nations agreed to let us in, would we still be blaming Wilson? Carleton also states that if Wilson was as stubborn as he was made out to be, then he would have been a joke for a president. He was accused of not understanding world politics but in that day, what American statesman understood world politics more than Wilson? Carleton also dismissed the fact that Wilson was accused of not being able to compromise. He stated “If the truth of this accusation must rest on Wilson’s attitude during the Treaty fight, and I think it must, for he showed remarkable adaptability in other phases of his Presidency” (194-195). Given the situations Wilson was in as a president, from the stroke to dealing with the League, Wilson has had no choice but to adapt and compromise with certain situations. Carleton ends his claim with the focus more on Lodge because he procrastinated votes on the treaty for two weeks and made it
more difficult for Wilson in regards to the treaty.
After reading this articles, I agree more with Carleton. Both authors made really good points but when Carleton pointed out that all fifteen nations must agree for the U.S. to become a member of the League, I automatically thought that there still wasn’t a guarantee the U.S. would be accepted. If Wilson would have gone along with the ratification of the Lodge Reservations, that didn’t 100% promise the acceptance of the U.S. This proved to me that Wilson was not at fault but instead, put in a situation that any other president would have handled similarly. Although Cooper makes a good point with the proof that a stroke can cause behavioral changes which he used to support why Wilson was not up for a debate, Wilson was still able to make the right decisions. I feel that if Wilson was really so affected mentally by his stroke he would have been removed from office because he was now incapable of running the country for the best.