He said of Lloyd George just
before he sailed for Paris, suspecting him of treachery to the
League of Nations, "I shall look him in the eye and say to him Damn
you, if you do not accept the League I shall go to the people of
Great Britain and say things to them that will shake your
government."
When he made this threat he could not foresee that the compromise
of the Peace would leave him with so little character that British
Liberals, their faith destroyed, should in the end couple his name
with their own Premier's and exclaim, "Your man Wilson talks like
Jesus Christ, but he acts like Lloyd George!"
More than all others he scorned Lodge. The Massachusetts Senator
who had put by scholarship for politics and had won the opportunity
to do menial service for a political machine hated the man who had
chosen scholarship, for whatever motive, and come out with the
Presidency. You hate the man you might perhaps have been if you had
chosen more boldly, more according to your heart--if you are like
Mr. Lodge.
A life of demeaning himself to politicians, of waiting for dead
men's shoes in the Senate, had, however, brought some compensations
to Lodge, among others an inordinate capacity to hurt. The
Massachusetts Senator could get under the President's skin as no
other man could. Washington is a place where every whisper is heard
in the White House.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52