House, Edward Mandell (1858–1938), a United States statesman and influential adviser of President Woodrow Wilson. House was born in Houston, Texas. After attending Cornell University he managed his inherited cotton plantations and entered Texas politics. He was often called “Colonel House” because he held the rank of colonel on the staff of the governor of Texas. In 1912 House played a major role in the nomination and election of Wilson to the Presidency.
As a personal representative of Wilson, House tried to arrange peace negotiations in the early days of World War I. After the United States entered the war, he conferred with Allied statesmen on war aims and strategy. House helped draw up Wilson's Fourteen Points and the covenant of the League of Nations. He was a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. House's friendship with Wilson ended after he unsuccessfully urged the President to revise the Treaty of Versailles in order to secure its ratification by the U.S. Senate.
The Intimate Papers of Colonel House (4 volumes, edited by Charles Seymour) appeared during 1926–28.