Col. Edward M. House

Edward M. House (1858 – 1938) was an American diplomat, and an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson. He was known as Colonel House, although his title was honorary and he had performed no military service. He was a highly influential backroom politician in Texas before becoming a key supporter of the presidential bid of Wilson in 1912 by managing his campaign, beginning in July 1911.

House served as Wilson's chief adviser on European politics and diplomacy during World War I, and was one of the five American commissioners to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

Articles by this Author

End of a Friendship: Wilson and House, August 1963 | Vol. 14, No. 5

“Mr. House is my second personality,” said Woodrow Wilson early in his Presidency. Then, as the Paris Peace Conference proceeded, the friendship dissolved — for reasons that have never been fully understood. As he lay dying in 1938, Colonel House gave his explanation to President Charles Seymour of Yale, editor of his Intimate Papers, with the understanding that it remain secret for 25 years after his death. Here, for the first time, it is revealed.

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