It was the one taken by delegates of the smaller nations who relied on the general guaranty to protect their countries from future aggressions on the part of their powerful neighbors.

If the guaranty of the Covenant was sufficient protection for them, they declared that it ought to be sufficient for France.

If France doubted its sufficiency, how could they be content with it?
Since my own judgment was against any form of guaranty imposing upon the United States either a legal or a moral obligation to employ coercive measures under certain conditions arising in international affairs, I could not conscientiously support the idea of the French treaty.

This further departure from America's historic policy caused me to accept President Wilson's "guidance and direction ...

with increasing reluctance," as he aptly expressed it in his letter of February 11, 1920.