In my conversation with Colonel House I told him my reasons for opposing
the President's taking an active part in the Conference and explained to
him the embarrassment that I felt in advising the President to adopt a
course which would make me the head of the American Commission. I am
sure that the Colonel fully agreed with me that it was impolitic for Mr.
Wilson to become a delegate, but whether he actively opposed the plan I
do not know, although I believe that he did. It was some days before the
President announced that he would become the head of the American
Commission. I believe that he did this with grave doubts in his own mind
as to the wisdom of his decision, and I do not think that any new
arguments were advanced during those days which materially affected
his judgment.

This delay in reaching a final determination as to a course of action
was characteristic of Mr. Wilson. There is in his mentality a strange
mixture of positiveness and indecision which is almost paradoxical. It
is a peculiarity which it is hard to analyze and which has often been an
embarrassment in the conduct of public affairs. Suddenness rather than
promptness has always marked his decisions. Procrastination in
announcing a policy or a programme makes coöperation difficult and not
infrequently defeats the desired purpose. To put off a decision to the
last moment is a trait of Mr. Wilson's character which has caused much
anxiety to those who, dealing with matters of vital importance, realized
that delay was perilous if not disastrous.

Of the consequences of the President's acting as one of his own
representatives to negotiate peace it is not my purpose to speak. The
events of the six months succeeding his decision to exercise in person
his constitutional right to conduct the foreign relations of the United