The Washington Naval Conference lasted long enough for personal relationships and informal bargains to influence the formal delegations. Tillman could cooperate with British, Japanese, French, or Italian negotiators whenever doing so advanced his domestic interests, even while privately disliking them. His faction's common objective is employment: ships sustain yard jobs, and jobs protect elections. A disciplined bloc of roughly a dozen pro-construction senators could therefore trade acceptance of a ratifiable treaty for continued work in politically valuable yards.
Chapter · 56:18-1:03:22
A jobs coalition gains power as talks drag on
Extended negotiations reward Tillman's backroom skills and give a dozen pro-construction senators leverage over a treaty requiring ratification.