The National Security League was founded by attorney Solomon Stanwood Menken and General Leonard Wood in December 1914, but the impetus for the formation of the group was US Representative Augustus Peabody Gardner. For funding, Menken sought out publisher George Putnam. Putnam encouraged Menken to appoint an honorary president to lend the organization prestige and to give it access to respected speakers and additional funding. Menken and Putnam settled on Joseph Choate as the first such president. Menken served as the NSL's first executive director. A national committee was formed, which eventually had 47 members, with university presidents, bankers, cabinet secretaries, and state governors.