Three days before his departure the Colonel was in Washington and we had
two long conferences with the President regarding the correspondence
with Germany and with the Allies relating to a cessation of hostilities,
during which we discussed the position which the United States should
take as to the terms of the armistice and the bases of peace which
should be incorporated in the document.

It was after one of these conferences that Colonel House informed me
that the President had decided to name him (the Colonel) and me as two
of the American plenipotentiaries to the Peace Conference, and that the
President was considering attending the Conference and in person
directing the negotiations. This latter intention of Mr. Wilson
surprised and disturbed me, and I expressed the hope that the
President's mind was not made up, as I believed that if he gave more
consideration to the project he would abandon it, since it was manifest
that his influence over the negotiations would be much greater if he
remained in Washington and issued instructions to his representatives in
the Conference. Colonel House did not say that he agreed with my
judgment in this matter, though he did not openly disagree with it.
However, I drew the conclusion, though without actual knowledge, that he
approved of the President's purpose, and, possibly, had encouraged him
to become an actual participant in the preliminary conferences.

The President's idea of attending the Peace Conference was not a new
one. Though I cannot recollect the source of my information, I know that
in December, 1916, when it will be remembered Mr. Wilson was endeavoring
to induce the belligerents to state their objects in the war and to
enter into a conference looking toward peace, he had an idea that he
might, as a friend of both parties, preside over such a conference and
exert his personal influence to bring the belligerents into agreement. A