The United States was a member of the League of Nations.

The story behind the answer

False. Although President Woodrow Wilson championed the League of Nations after World War I, the United States never joined. The Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, largely over fears that Article 10—requiring members to defend others—would entangle the U.S. in foreign wars and erode congressional power over war declarations. Isolationist sentiment and opposition led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge sealed its fate.

Context: The League, founded in 1919 and based in Geneva, struggled without U.S. participation and failed to stop aggressions like Japan in Manchuria and Italy in Ethiopia. It was eventually replaced by the United Nations in 1945—this time with the U.S. as a founding member. Memory tip: “Wilson wrote the plan, but the Senate said no—U.S. skipped the League’s show.”