Edward M. House: Difference between revisions

| death_place = [[Manhattan]], New York City, U.S.

'''Edward Mandell House''' (July 26, 1858 – March 28, 1938) was an American diplomat, and an adviser to President [[Woodrow Wilson]]. He was known as '''Colonel House''', although his ranktitle was honorary and he had performed no military service. He was a highly influential back-stage politician in Texas before becoming a key supporter of the presidential bid of Wilson in 1912 by managing his campaign, beginning in July 1911. Having a self-effacing manner, he did not hold office but was an "executive agent", Wilson's chief adviser on European politics and diplomacy during [[World War I]] (1914–1918). He became a government official as one of the five American commissioners to the [[Paris Peace Conference of 1919]].<ref>His appointment was announced November 29, 1918. Neu (2015), p. 379.</ref> In 1919, Wilson broke with House and many other top advisers, believing they had deceived him at Paris.

In 1912, House anonymously published a novel called ''[[Philip Dru: Administrator]]'', in which the title character leads the democratic Western U.S. in a civil war against the [[plutocratic]] East, becoming the dictator of America and turns it into “Socialism as dreamed of by Karl Marx”.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Edward Mandell House |url=https://archive.org/details/philipdruadmini00housgoog/page/n58/mode/1up |title=Philip Dru: Administrator: A Story of Tomorrow, 1920-1935 ... |date=1912 |publisher=B. W. Huebsch |others=Harvard University |language=English}}</ref> Dru as dictator imposes a series of reforms which resemble the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Bull Moose platform of 1912]] and then vanishes.<ref>Lasch, pp. 230–35.</ref>

<blockquote>is working out the problems which are nearest my heart and that is the equalization of opportunity&nbsp;...&nbsp;. The income tax, the employers' liability act, the old age pension measure, the budget of last year and this insurance bill puts England well to the fore. We have touched these problems in America but lightly as yet but the soil is fallow.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1IgBQAAQBAJ&q=colonel+house+old-age+pensions&pg=PA69 | title=Colonel House: A Biography of Woodrow Wilson's Silent Partner| isbn=9780195045505| last1=Neu| first1=Charles E.| year=2015| publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref></blockquote>

After a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner {{RMS|Lusitania||2}} on May 7, 1915, with 128 Americans among the 1198 dead, many Americans called for war. Prior to departure from New York, the Imperial German Embassy had announced that ships sailing into warzone waters in order to aim for Germany's enemies would be targeted as enemy supply. The ship was carrying war munitions, although this was not publicly revealed at the time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/divers-find-ammunition-in-lusitania/article_b6fdd7ba-32e4-50d8-8cd1-009db211b1ba.html#:~:text=Anne%20Constable%20The%20British%20passenger,to%20have%20been%20on%20board.|title=Divers find ammunition in Lusitania |last=Constable |first=Anne |date=September 26, 2008 |website=Santa Fe New Mexican}} </ref> Wilson demanded that Germany respect American neutral rights, and especially not sink merchant ships or passenger liners without giving the passengers and crew the opportunity to get into lifeboats, as required by international law. Tension escalated with Germany, until Germany agreed to Wilson's terms. House felt that the war was an epic battle between democracy and autocracy; he argued the United States ought to help Britain and France win a limited Allied victory. However, Wilson still insisted on neutrality.

In February 1919, House took his place on the [[Treaty of Versailles|Council of Ten]], where he negotiated compromises unacceptable to Wilson. The following month, Wilson returned to Paris. He decided that House had taken too many liberties in negotiations, and relegated him to the sidelines. After they returned to the US later that year, the two men never saw or spoke to each other again.<ref name=Berg/><!--page=601}}--> Shortly after returning to Washington, Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke, the extent of which was concealed from the public and the press. Other than his doctors, direct access to the president was now limited tooto and controlled by Wilson's wife and Chief of Staff. Though House continued to send memos and reports to the president during this time, Wilson's wife made sure he did not see any of them.<ref>Neu (2015), p. 434.</ref>

* {{Gutenberg author |id=House,+Edward+Mandell 2170| name=Edward Mandell House}}

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