Edward Mandell House
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(July 26, 1858 - March 28, 1938) Son of Houston businessman and Mayor Thomas W. House, was born in a two-story frame house at this site. He attended the Houston Academy and later continued his education in Virginia and at Cornell University. E. M. House married Loulie Hunter in 1881, and they were the parents of two daughters. In 1885 the family moved to Austin, and House became involved in Democratic party politics. He was instrumental in the election of four Texas governors-- James S. Hogg, Charles A. Culberson, S. W. T. Lanham, and Joseph D. Sayers. House gained national political prominence in 1912 when he was instrumental in the nomination of Woodrow Wilson for president. House became a trusted advisor to President Wilson, participating in foreign policy negotiations during and after World War I. He played a major part in drafting the Fourteen Points, Wilson's plan for ending the war, and was a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. House died in New York in 1838 and was buried in Houston's Glenwood Cemetery. Known as Colonel House for many years, he is remembered as one of the most politically influential people of Texas and the United States, although he never held elective office.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Born on this Houston site in 1858, Edward Mandell House rose from Texas politics—helping elect four governors—to become one of the most influential figures in American statecraft. As the trusted adviser known as "Colonel House," he was instrumental in Woodrow Wilson's 1912 nomination and later shaped foreign policy during and after World War I. He helped draft Wilson's Fourteen Points and served as a delegate to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, all without ever holding elective office.
Why it matters
House's career proves how much power could flow through a confidant of the president, placing a Texan at the center of America's emergence as a world power after World War I.
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Related people
- · Edward Mandell House
- · Woodrow Wilson
- · Thomas W. House
Related events
- · Paris Peace Conference
- · Fourteen Points
- · World War I
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Thomas William House
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An English baker's son from Somersetshire, T. W. House emigrated in 1835 and by 1838 had opened a bakery and confectionery in the young city of Houston. From that modest start he built one of Texas's great 19th-century business empires—general merchandise, cotton brokerage, banking, gas works, street railways, and railroads—served as a city alderman and, in 1862, as mayor of Houston, and held property in at least 63 counties plus a sugar plantation in Fort Bend County. His son Edward Mandell House would become the closest advisor to President Woodrow Wilson during World War I.
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