ABSTRACT
The terms of peace which House wanted Thomas Woodrow Wilson to lay down were based on the stated war aims of the Allies. House's plan ran counter to Wilson's conviction that he should keep the United States out of the European conflict, and also to the traditional American policy of staying out of European wars. As a statesman, Sir Edward Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, was House's ideal, and Wilson liked to handle matters of the highest importance through secret communications between House and Grey. House took Grey's letter to Wilson, and the President agreed that House should draft an encouraging reply to Sir Edward as the first step toward offering American help if Germany refused the terms they had in mind, which coincided with the public war aims of the Allies. Colonel House conducted the prolonged negotiations which then followed; but he conducted them as Wilson's agent, and responsibility for them was entirely Wilson's.
