Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House: A Personality Study

Woodrow Wilson’s presidential campaign in 1912 marked the beginning of a remarkable personal and political collaboration between Wilson and Colonel Edward M. House. The book traces the complexities of Wilson’s life and career along with his relationship with House, who for almost a decade was his closest behind-the-scenes advisor and confidant.


Through the early years of Wilson’s boyhood, his rise to prominence in the academic world, to the presidency of Princeton University and the governorship of New Jersey, the authors analyze the forces and events that shaped Wilson’s character and his actions in the political arena: Wilson’s first administration, his struggles with Congress, American participation in World War I, the Paris Peace Conference, the formation of the League of Nations, the battle with the Senate over the Versailles Peace Treaty, Wilson’s appeal to the nation, and the eventual collapse of his health and his great dream.


“Probably tomorrow’s biographies will continue the present tendency toward raiding the social sciences for new research techniques... The fascinating dual biography of Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House by Alexander and Juliette George shows what can and will be done in this field.” John Garraty, The New York Times


“The first completely satisfactory account of this strange relationship... excellent and beautifully written.” — Bernard Brodie, World Politics


“Fascinating as a study in human relations, important because of the destiny the two men held in their hands.” — Saturday Review


“It has never before been told so well... Highly recommended.” — Newsday


“Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House: A Personality Study may be counted among the classics in political psychology... it helped to establish a new methodological standard for psychobiography, signaling a significant step in the discipline’s maturation. Additionally, the Georges’ account has become a resource for a number of scholars, particularly political scientists, interested in a psychological perspective on Wilson or on the presidency itself... Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House has remained over the years a vital part of a number of continuing, substantive scholarly debates on Wilson and on the psychobiographical endeavor generally.” — William Friedman, Political Psychology


“[A]n interesting and suggestive biography... two historians have nicely drawn upon psychoanalytic principles without in any way doing an injustice to their own responsibilities” — Robert Coles, The New York Review of Books


“It is one of the best attributes of this well-written and interesting volume that the authors have managed to set down, as no one has done so well before, the way in which Colonel House coolly took the measure of Wilson’s personality and undertook to ingratiate himself... [T]he authors are thoroughly aware of the vagaries of human nature. The impression throughout the book is one of careful analysis and insight... There is a refreshing unwillingness, on the part of the authors, to bury their narrative in detail, and hence the high points of Wilson’s career come out clearly, and the judgments are likewise sharp and pointed... All in all, a first-rate volume of history.” — Robert H. Ferrell, The Review of Politics


“The authors have done their research thoroughly, have presented their arguments convincingly, and have drawn logical conclusions... [They] are to be congratulated upon a job well done.” — George C. Osborn, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science


“The study is well documented and carefully written. It should have enduring value.” — Rupert N. Richardson, The Southwestern Historical Quarterly


“The authors have made a valuable contribution to the literature on Woodrow Wilson and opened new possibilities in historical study.” — J. Chal Vinson, The Georgia Historical Quarterly


“A commendable little book which should take high place among the one-volume biographies of Woodrow Wilson. It is a well-balanced, smartly-paced work, maturely organized and presented in an engaging... manner. For the general reader interested in good biography well told, the book should have a special and richly deserved appeal.” — Charles Jellison, The American Historical Review