In Harold Nicholson's lectures on diplomacy, he mentions Woodrow Wilson's advocacy of open diplomacy. At Versailles, Nicholson was amused to find that the Wilson's discussions took place in a room that had a U.S. Marine with fixed bayonet patrolling outside the windows.

Nicholson makes the point that the text of agreements should be known when they are made. The discussions that arrive at them, not necessarily.