 Prior to the American entry into the war , Woodrow Wilson called for a " peace of reconciliation with Germany " , what he dubbed a " peace without victory " . His wartime speeches , however , rejected these earlier notions and he took an increasingly belligerent stance towards Germany . Following the war , on 4 September 1919 , during his public campaign to rally American support for the Treaty of Versailles , Wilson commented that the treaty " seeks to punish one of the greatest wrongs ever done in history , the wrong which Germany sought to do to the world and to civilization , and there ought to be no weak purpose with regard to the application of the punishment . She attempted an intolerable thing , and she must be made to pay for the attempt . " Regardless of the rhetoric , the American position was to create a balanced treaty that would appease everyone . Gordon Auchincloss , secretary to Edward M. House ( one of Wilson 's advisers ) , sent a copy of the clause to the State Department and stated " you will note that the President 's principles have been protected in this clause " . 
