1926: Birmingham joins Moran in opposing U.S. membership in World Court

Peace Palace, The Hague, home of World Court

In the 1926 Massachusetts House session, Rep. Birmingham joined with Rep. Patrick Moran in introducing a bill urging the U.S. Senate not to approve U.S. membership in the World Court. The bill did not make it out of committee.

The Covenant of the League of Nations had called for the setting up of a World Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Although President Woodrow Wilson was unsuccessful in convincing the U.S. to join the League of Nations, U.S. diplomat Elihu Root assisted in the drafting of the World Court’s protocol. President Harding recommended in 1923 that the U.S. join the World Court.

In January 1926, the U.S. Senate voted to join the World Court, but with a number of major reservations that proved unacceptable to the World Court members. As a result, in November 1926, President Coolidge announced that the U.S. would not join the World Court.

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