The Commission visited areas of Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Anatolia, surveyed local public opinion, and assessed its view on the best course of action for the region.

Originally meant to be led by French, British, Italian and American representatives, it ended as an investigation conducted solely by the United States government after the other countries withdrew to avoid the risk of being "confronted by recommendations from their own appointed delegates which might conflict with their policies".

Its working being undercut from the beginning by France and the United Kingdom's pact, the Sykes–Picot Agreement, and colonialist designs, the Peace Conference had largely concluded the area's future by the time the report was finished.

[7] Meanwhile, after World War I, Arabs in Greater Syria, including Palestine, sought independence due to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and global revolutionary activities, namely, the “year of travelling revolutions” across the North Africa and the Middle East.

[citation needed] The Americans gradually realized that the British and French had already come to their own backroom deals about the future of the region, and new information could only muddy the waters.

[15] The dispatch of the Commission, combined with Wilson's claim that the “nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of an autonomous development,” sparked optimism in the Arab world that the era of imperialism was coming to an end.

[citation needed] From King's personal writings, it seems that his overriding concern was the morally correct course of action, not necessarily tempered by politics or pragmatism.

In light of Republican isolationism, the probability of a huge military involvement and occupation overseas, even given British and French approval, was practically nil.

[citation needed] The British Foreign Office was willing to allow either the United States or Great Britain to administer the proposed Palestine mandate, but not the French or the Italian governments.

[citation needed] As a result, the report was only released to the public in 1922, after the Senate and House had passed a joint resolution favoring the establishment of a Jewish National Home in Palestine along the lines of the Balfour Declaration.

[citation needed] Public opinion was divided when it was learned that the Arab majority had requested an American mandate with a democratically elected constituent assembly.

With respect to OETA North ("Cilicia"), the Commission "did not endeavor to give thorough hearings... feeling that it is not seriously to be considered a part of Syria, and desiring not to open up as yet the question of the Turkish-speaking portion of the former Turkish Empire."

[citation needed] The Commission hoped for a "Syria" built along liberal and nationalistic grounds that would become a modern democracy that protected the rights of its minorities.

[citation needed] Historian James Gelvin believes that the Commission actually weakened the stature of the pro-Western elites in Syria, as their vocal support of complete independence made no impact upon the result.

"[23] The commission found that "Zionists looked forward to a practically complete dispossession of the present non-Jewish inhabitants of Palestine, by various forms of purchase".

[23] The report noted that there is a principle that the wishes of the local population must be taken into account and that there is widespread anti-Zionist feeling in Palestine and Syria, and the holy nature of the land to Christians and Moslems as well as Jews must preclude solely Jewish dominion.

This was precisely what the Commission wanted to avoid, so they dismissed the idea, saying that Zionists anticipated "a practically complete dispossession of the present non-Jewish inhabitants to Palestine, by various forms of purchase".

The proposal was viewed as childish by the French and British career officials, who did not believe that public opinion, in the European and American sense, existed in the Middle East.

When President Wilson's Commission of Inquiry went out to ascertain the wishes of the Middle Eastern peoples, it did not go to Mesopotamia, where British India had instituted direct rule.