The Great War, Paris, and the Founding of the American Legion

In ‘This Week in History,’ several WWI officers, after the war, suggested creating a veterans organization. It became America’s largest and most powerful.

The first caucus of the American Legion was held in Paris in March 1919. Public Domain

The guns in Europe went silent on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Located in the Rethondes Clearing in the Compiègne Forest sat a train car of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. Inside delegates of the Allies, led by France’s Marshal Ferdinand Foch, and the Central Powers, led by Germany’s Matthias Erzberger, met. The world war, which had lasted just over four years, had finally come to an end with the armistice signing.

The following day, Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), issued General Orders No. 203. The immediate information, that “the enemy has capitulated,” was hardly revelatory. Over the previous days, it was known that an armistice would soon be signed. Of course, this did not stop the Allies from fighting until the final minutes before 11 a.m. Paris time. Pershing thanked his officers and soldiers, but added that, although the war had been won, to not relax “in discipline, in conduct, in appearance, in everything that marks the soldier.”

The reason for this demand of soldierly conduct was because it would take months to transport the approximate 2 million soldiers back home. Pershing, in his letter, stated that he hoped the American soldier would “carry back to our people the proud consciousness of a new Americanism born of sacrifice.” Most of these soldiers would embark from French ports, like Bordeaux, Brest, and St. Nazaire. This task, however, took 10 months from the signing of the armistice, with the last United States Navy vessel arriving in America in late September.

Four Soldiers

Eric Fisher Wood had been in France before the Great War began. He had been studying architecture at Paris’ Ecole des Beaux Arts. Almost immediately after the fighting began, he became attaché for the U.S. Embassy, where he made trips to the front lines and carried “special dispatches between the American Embassies and went several times to France, England, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Austria, and Hungary.”

Soon, he enlisted with both the British and the French, earning wartime decorations for his actions. When America entered the war in 1917, he enlisted as a private and by the end of the conflict held the rank of colonel.

Lt. Gen. George S. Patton and Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., during the invasion of Sicily, Italy, 1943. Public Domain

Theodore Roosevelt III (but known as Theodore Roosevelt Jr.), the son of the former president, had been a strong advocate of the Preparedness Movement before America entered the war. When the United States did enter, he immediately enlisted and was sent to France. He was shot in the leg by machine gun fire and nearly blinded by gas during the Battle of Soissons. By the end of the war, he held the rank of lieutenant colonel, commanding the 26th Regiment, 1st Division. His war decorations included the Distinguished Service Cross, a Distinguished Service Medal, and two Silver Star Medals.

William Donovan had begun his military career before the outbreak of World War I, joining the New York National Guard as a captain in 1912. Before America entered the war in Europe, he served in the U.S. Army during the border campaign to capture Pancho Villa.

Donovan had already earned his nickname “Wild Bill” before becoming a major in the 165th New York Infantry Regiment; during the war, he would prove why the name fit. He was wounded several times during the war, and by the end of the conflict, he held the rank of colonel and was one of the country’s most decorated AEF soldiers, having earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Medal of Honor.

George A. White entered the Utah National Guard at the age of 15 in 1895, and served during the Spanish-American War three years later. He, too, served along the border during the Pancho Villa campaign, commanding Troop A of the Oregon Cavalry. By September of 1917, he joined the Army’s 41st Division, serving through the end of the war into June of 1919. Rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, he was also on staff at the General Headquarters of the AEF in Chaumont, France, with Gen. Pershing.

The Paris Caucus

Gallantry, bravery, and victory had defined the American Doughboys, as they were called during the war. But with the war over, and having endured the brutality of trench warfare and the loss of many comrades, Gen. Pershing was concerned about troop morale. There was an additional concern that once the troops returned home to the vast landscape of America, the soldiers, who had fought side by side for so long, would be separated and the friendships and that “new Americanism” would fade.

Roosevelt, too, was concerned and recalled speaking with a wounded sergeant who suggested a war veterans organization should be formed. “We have stuck together in the bad times; let’s stick together in the good ones,” the sergeant stated. Roosevelt quickly compiled a list of officers who could meet in Paris. The list made its way to Pershing, who then ordered the 20 officers to confer together.

The group, which included Roosevelt, Wood, White, and Donovan, met for dinner on Feb. 15, 1919. The idea of a veterans organization was discussed. It was agreed that another meeting should be held, which would be referred to as the Paris Caucus.

Wood, who was appointed temporary secretary of the event, spread the word about the upcoming meeting, which was met by AEF soldiers with enthusiasm. The decorated officer finally secured the famous Cirque de Paris, which had opened in 1852 and could seat approximately 2,000 people. Wood informed Roosevelt that he was “inviting enlisted men.” The attendance expectation was 300. By the time of the Paris Caucus, 463 AEF soldiers throughout France had registered.

It was during this week in history, and about five hours behind schedule (the event was scheduled for 10 a.m., but did not begin until 2:45 p.m.), on March 15, 1919, that, by numerous estimates, more than 1,000 soldiers attended the three-day conference.

"On this site was born the American Legion, March 15–17, 1919." Bilingual commemorative plaque, 14 rue Ernest-Psichari, Paris. Mu/CC BY-SA 3.0

The Legion’s Start

Among the attendees of the Paris Caucus were Wood, White, and Donovan. Temporary Chairman Roosevelt had already returned to the United States, but his ideas were enunciated by Wood. The purpose of the gathering was threefold: formulate a plan to hold a founding conference in the United States by winter; create a provisional constitution that could be submitted to said winter conference; and, lastly, to establish a name for the new war veterans organization.

Several 15-member committees were established to accomplish the tasks. By the end of the Paris Caucus on March 17, the organization stated its intentions: the first national convention was tentatively scheduled for 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1919; it was recommended that the veterans organization should be broken into units according to territory in the United States; and of the 12 suggested names for the veterans organization, one was finally chosen: The American Legion.

The First National Convention

There was still plenty to be done, and it remained to be seen if the organization would be a success. The following evening, the newly formed American Legion Executive Committee gathered for further discussion. White, who was the committee secretary, noted, “As near as we could calculate tangible assets, we possessed a pile of resolutions, the tentative name ‘American Legion,’ and a responsibility to do something along lines which we must determine.”

From May 8 to 10, 1919, the American conference called the St. Louis Caucus was held. Approximately 1,100 soldiers attended to finalize the Paris agreements. The preamble of the organization’s constitution was drafted and adopted, and the name The American Legion was officially adopted. The first national convention for the veterans organization was scheduled to be held in Minneapolis from Nov. 10 to 12, 1919.

As the final remnants of AEF soldiers were shipped home, the enthusiasm behind this organization was exemplified in September when The American Legion was chartered by Congress. Two months later, approximately 15,000 veterans arrived to attend the national convention. More impressively, there were already more than 684,000 members of the American Legion with approximately 5,400 posts established throughout the nation and world.

During the national convention, delegates, of which 140 were female WWI veterans, 50 resolutions were adopted, including “equal treatment for women who served in the war, employment programs for veterans, fair government benefits for those who came home disabled from service, support for the Boy Scouts, mandatory patriotic exercises in schools and the establishment of an air branch of service.”

Crowd at American Legion Convention held in New Orleans, 1922. Public Domain

‘Comrades in Service’

When Gen. Pershing was asked about the organization, he stated, “The American Legion? They are my comrades in service to the last man.”

The American Legion remains the largest U.S. veterans organization with more than 1.6 million members. It has remained apolitical, which was one of its founding principles. Brig. Gen. William Price, who had presided over the Paris Caucus, stated, “It would be unfortunate to place The American Legion in conflict with the political parties. … [The organization] will uphold what is right so firmly and forcefully that whatever party is wrong will learn to fear it. It is the brotherhood of men who have realized thoroughly their responsibility to the nation.”

This responsibility has been exemplified throughout the century following its 1919 founding. The American Legion, among its many accomplishments, lobbied to establish the U.S. Veterans Bureau (now the Veterans Administration); lobbied for legislation to create the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; established the Flag Code; advocated for equal rights with the passage of a 1923 resolution at its National Convention in San Francisco; lobbied to ultimately create the National Archives; and lobbied to pass the GI Bill, “considered the Legion’s single greatest legislative achievement.”

American Legion headquarters, Indianapolis. Diego Delso/CC BY-SA 3.0

Never miss a This Week in History story! Sign up for the American History newsletter here.

What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to [email protected]