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He was born July 26, 1858, in [[Houston, Texas]], the last of seven children<!-- He was the son of Houston mayor [[Thomas William House Sr.]], a gunrunner during the [[US Civil War]] who amassed a fortune.{{citation needed|date=July 2014}} --> of Mary Elizabeth (Shearn) and [[Thomas William House Sr.]] His father was an emigrant from England by way of New Orleans, who became a prominent Houston businessman, with a large role in developing the city and served a term as its mayor. His father sent ships laden with cotton to evade the [[Union blockade]] in the Gulf of Mexico during the [[American Civil War]]. He traded Texas cotton through [[Matamoros, Mexico]], in exchange for equipment and ammunition.<ref name=TSHA /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/house-thomas-william |title=House, Thomas William (1814–1880) |last=Beazley |first=Julia |website=Handbook of Texas |publisher=Texas State Historical Society |access-date=July 12, 2021 }}</ref>
As a young man, House and his companions harassed [[Freedman|recently-freed slaves]] verbally and with [[slingshot]]s. His diary entries "consistently reveal a deeply felt racism" and a belief in [[white supremacy]].<ref name="Minutaglio">{{cite book |last=Minutaglio |first=Bill |author-link=Bill Minutaglio |date=2021 |title=A Single Star and Bloody Knuckles: A History of Politics and Race in Texas |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Single_Star_and_Bloody_Knuckles/lYcHEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA70 |location= |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=70 |isbn=9781477310366}}</ref>
House attended Houston Academy<!-- probably not the one founded 1970 in Alabama -->, a school in [[Bath, England]], a [[University-preparatory school|prep school]] in [[Virginia]], and [[Hopkins Grammar School]], [[New Haven, Connecticut]].<ref name=TSHA/>
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House threw himself into world affairs, promoting Wilson's goal of brokering a peace to end World War I. He spent much of 1915 and 1916 in Europe, trying to negotiate peace through diplomacy. He was enthusiastic but lacked deep insight into European affairs and relied on the information received from British diplomats, especially the British foreign secretary [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|Edward Grey]], to shape his outlook. Nicholas Ferns argues that Grey's ideas meshed with House's. Grey's diplomatic goal was to establish close Anglo-American relations; he deliberately built a close connection to further that aim. Thereby Grey re-enforced House's pro-Allied proclivities so that Wilson's chief adviser promoted the British position.<ref>Nicolas Ferns, "Loyal Advisor? Colonel Edward House's Confidential Trips to Europe, 1913–1917". ''Diplomacy & Statecraft'' 24.3 (2013): 365-382.</ref>
After a German U-boat sank the British passenger liner {{RMS|Lusitania||2}} on 7 May 1915, with 128 Americans among the 1198 dead, many Americans called for war. The ship was carrying war munitions, although this was not publicly revealed at the time.<ref>http://www.centenarynews.com/article?id=1616 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=April 2018}} 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.
House played a major role in shaping wartime diplomacy. He supported [[Thomas Garrigue Masaryk]] Czechoslovak legions especially in Russia as well.<ref>Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karvina, Czech Republic) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN|978-80-87173-47-3}}, pp. 87 - 89, 118 - 128,140 - 148,184 - 190</ref> Wilson had House assemble "[[The Inquiry]]", a team of academic experts to devise efficient postwar solutions to all the world's problems. In September 1918, Wilson gave House the responsibility for preparing a constitution for a [[League of Nations]]. In October 1918, when Germany petitioned for peace based on the [[Fourteen Points]], Wilson charged House with working out details of an [[armistice]] with the Allies.
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