Henry Cabot Lodge

Henry Cabot Lodge
Lodge, c. 1915
United States Senator
from Massachusetts
In office
March 4, 1893 – November 9, 1924
Preceded byHenry L. Dawes
Succeeded byWilliam M. Butler
Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
In office
May 19, 1919 – November 9, 1924
Preceded byGilbert Hitchcock
Succeeded byWilliam Borah
Senate Majority Leader
In office
May 19, 1919 – November 9, 1924
DeputyCharles Curtis
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byCharles Curtis
Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference
In office
August 17, 1918 – November 9, 1924
Preceded byJacob Harold Gallinger
Succeeded byCharles Curtis
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
In office
May 25, 1912 – May 30, 1912
Preceded byAugustus Octavius Bacon
Succeeded byAugustus Octavius Bacon
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 6th district
In office
March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1893
Preceded byHenry B. Lovering
Succeeded byWilliam Cogswell
Chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party
In office
January 31, 1883 – 1884
Preceded byCharles A. Stott
Succeeded byEdward Avery
Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 10th Essex district[a]
In office
January 7, 1880 – January 3, 1882
Preceded byDaniel R. Pinkham[1]
William Lyon[1]
Succeeded byJohn Marlor[2]
Personal details
Born(1850-05-12)May 12, 1850
Beverly, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 1924(1924-11-09) (aged 74)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Anna Cabot Mills Davis
(m. 1871)
Children3, including George
Relatives
EducationHarvard University (AB, LLB, AM, PhD)
Signature

Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 – November 9, 1924) was an American politician, historian, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. His successful crusade against Woodrow Wilson's Treaty of Versailles ensured that the United States never joined the League of Nations and his penned conditions against that treaty, known collectively as the Lodge reservations, influenced the structure of the modern United Nations.[3][4]

Lodge received four degrees from Harvard University and was a widely published historian. His close friendship with Theodore Roosevelt began as early as 1884 and lasted their entire lifetimes, even surviving Roosevelt's bolt from the Republican Party in 1912.

As a representative, Lodge sponsored the unsuccessful Lodge Bill of 1890, which sought to protect the voting rights of African Americans and introduce a national secret ballot. As a senator, Lodge took a more active role in foreign policy, supporting the Spanish–American War, expansion of American territory overseas, and American entry into World War I. He also supported immigration restrictions, becoming a member of the Immigration Restriction League and influencing the Immigration Act of 1917.

After World War I, Lodge became Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the leader of the Senate Republicans. From that position, he led the opposition to Wilson's Treaty of Versailles, proposing 14 reservations to the treaty.[3] His strongest objection was to the requirement that all nations repel aggression, fearing that this would erode congressional powers and erode American sovereignty; those objections had a major role in producing the veto power of the United Nations Security Council. Lodge remained in the Senate until his death in 1924.


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  1. ^ a b "A manual for the use of the General Court". 1858.
  2. ^ "A manual for the use of the General Court". 1858.
  3. ^ a b "The Great War: A Nation Comes of Age - Part 3, Transcript". American Experience. PBS. July 3, 2018. Archived from the original on May 20, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).