Sunday, November 22, 2015

"Colonel" House, and his political influence

          Edward House was born in 1858 to a prominent Texan family whose cotton plantations allowed House some financial "breathing room" as he moved through life. House became interested in politics, though he never ran for public office himself. House earned his honorary title of "Colonel" when he managed the campaign of one Texas governor. While House's advice was widely sought after, he made a conscious effort to anger nobody with his politics.
          The "colonel" joined the sphere of national politics when he met Woodrow Wilson in New Jersey in 1911. House was at first only one of many advisers to Wilson, but would eventually be the only one Wilson could trust do to their increasingly close relationship. To aid Wilson's presidential campaign, House secured the invaluable support of the long time Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan.
          In the summer of 1914, Wilson sent House to Europe, specifically London and Berlin, to desperately attempt to negotiate a political alliance between America, Britain and Germany, the purpose of which would be to preserve peace, not only in Europe but worldwide. House achieved success with Kaiser Wilhelm II. Wilhelm reportedly agreed to the alliance, saying that the three powers were the most logical defenders of "Christian Civilization".
           House's results in London were less impressive. The English representative (Sir Edward Grey) told House that Germany's militarism was too threatening to the peace for Britain to forge an alliance with and telling House that “Neither England, Germany, Russia, nor France desire war” (History.com).
           Unfortunately, House's adept political maneuvering did not stop Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip from assassinating Austrian Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand, and it did not stop Europe from plunging itself into war.
           As the war ended, House helped to draft the fourteen points along with Wilson and Walter Lippmann, a moderate political journalist. House was one of the few political advisors Wilson trusted enough to take with him to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, and House was assigned with amending the fourteen points to ensure that the European Parliaments would pass them. House ultimately failed in Wilson's eyes because he sided more with the European allies and less with Wilson himself. This led House to make several political concessions that might be seen as pragmatic, but to Wilson were unacceptable (Wilson hated compromise). Disagreements between House and Wilson drove the two old friends apart. Between Wilson's stubborn negotiating and House's concessions, very few of the fourteen points were fully realized in the Treaty of Versailles.

Sources:
pbs.org
firstworldwar.com
history.com

2 comments:

  1. House seems politically adept and able to survive the pressure of politics, so after Wilson dismissed him from his personal advisory, what happened to him? Did he continue try to work in foreign affairs, or did he completely recede into the background?

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    1. House tried to latch on to other politicians as he did with Wilson, but as you proposed, he largely receded into the background. His last attempt to influence politics was with FDR, who rejected him.

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