IV.

During the World Wars

President Woodrow Wilson also used moral grounds to justify U.S. involvement in World War I (1914-1918). Wilson led the country into war saying he wanted “to make the world safe for democracy.” After World War I ended, Wilson supported the effort to create the League of Nations, an international organization designed to promote peace and cooperation between nations. When the Senate rebuffed Wilson’s attempt to have the United States join the League, the pendulum of foreign policymaking shifted to U.S. Congress for a time.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt reestablished the power of the presidency to set foreign policy and led the United States into World War II (1939-1945). After the war, the United States abandoned its policy of isolationism. The country recognized the need for allies to maintain its position in the world.