<P> The United States' policy of non-intervention was maintained throughout most of the 19th century . The first significant foreign intervention by the US was the Spanish--American War, which ultimately resulted in the Philippine--American War from 1899--1902 . </P> <P> Theodore Roosevelt's administration is credited with inciting the Panamanian Revolt against Colombia in order to secure construction rights for the Panama Canal (begun in 1904). </P> <P> The President of the United States Woodrow Wilson, after winning reelection with the slogan "He kept us out of war," was able to navigate neutrality in World War I for about three years . Early on, their historic shunning of foreign entanglements, and the presence in the US of immigrants with divided loyalties in the conflict helped maintain neutrality . Various causes compelled American entry into World War I, and Congress would vote to declare war on Germany; this would involve the nation on the side of the Triple Entente, but only as an "associated power" fighting the same enemy, not one officially allied with them . A few months after the declaration of War, Wilson gave a speech to congress outlining his aims to end the conflict, labeled the Fourteen Points . While this American proclamation was less triumphalist than the aims of some of its allies, it did propose in the final point, that a general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike . After the war, Wilson traveled to Europe and stayed for months to labor on the post-war treaty; no president had previously enjoined such sojourn outside of the country . In that Treaty of Versailles, Wilson's association was formulated as the League of Nations . </P> <P> In the wake of the First World War, the non-interventionist tendencies of US foreign policy gained ascendancy . The Treaty of Versailles, and thus, United States' participation in the League of Nations, even with reservations, was rejected by the Republican - dominated Senate in the final months of Wilson's presidency . A group of Senators known as the Irreconcilables, identifying with both William Borah and Henry Cabot Lodge, had great objections regarding the clauses of the treaty which compelled America to come to the defense of other nations . Lodge, echoing Wilson, issued 14 Reservations regarding the treaty; among them, the second argued that America would sign only with the understanding that: </P>

Why was the united states still following its idea of isolationism