Pictures of President Woodrow Wilson Attends the Paris Peace Conference, 1919

On January 18, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson attends the Paris Peace Conference that would formally end World War I and lay the groundwork for the formation of the League of Nations.

Wilson envisioned a future in which the international community could preempt another conflict as devastating as the First World War and, to that end, he urged leaders from France, Great Britain and Italy to draft at the conference what became known as the Covenant of League of Nations. The document established the concept of a formal league to mediate international disputes in the hope of preventing another world war.

The Council of Four at the Paris Peace Conference. Left to right: Lloyd George of Great Britain, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau of France, and President Wilson.

Wilson and President Poincare on parade in Paris, France. Wilson became the first president to leave the United States while in office when he traveled to France in December, 1918.

Wilson and President Poincare on parade in Paris, France.

President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson in Paris, France, pictured with French President Raymond Poincare.

President Wilson and his coterie parade through Paris.

Wilson traveling with his party through Paris, France.

Wilson traveling through Paris, France.

Parisians greet President Wilson on the Rue Royal.

Parisians and Americans greet Woodrow Wilson in France.

Pictured left to right: Colonel Edward House, Secretary of State Robert Lansing, President Wilson, Diplomat Henry White, General Tasker Bliss.

(via Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives)