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Cordell Hull | |
|---|---|
 Hull in 1940 | |
| 47thUnited States Secretary of State | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – November 30, 1944 | |
| President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Deputy | William Phillips Sumner Welles Edward Stettinius Jr. |
| Preceded by | Henry L. Stimson |
| Succeeded by | Edward Stettinius Jr. |
| United States Senator fromTennessee | |
| In office March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933 | |
| Preceded by | William Emerson Brock |
| Succeeded by | Nathan L. Bachman |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1931 | |
| Preceded by | Wynne F. Clouse |
| Succeeded by | John R. Mitchell |
| In office March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1921 | |
| Preceded by | Mounce Gore Butler |
| Succeeded by | Wynne F. Clouse |
| 17thChair of the Democratic National Committee | |
| In office November 2, 1921 – July 22, 1924 | |
| Preceded by | George White |
| Succeeded by | Clem L. Shaver |
| Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives | |
| In office 1893–1897 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1871-10-02)October 2, 1871 Olympus, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | July 23, 1955(1955-07-23) (aged 83) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Washington National Cathedral |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | National Normal University Cumberland University (LLB) |
| Awards | Nobel Peace Prize |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | Tennessee Volunteer Infantry |
| Years of service | 1898 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Battles/wars | Spanish–American War |
Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871 – July 23, 1955) was an American politician anddiplomat who served as theUnited States Secretary of State for nearly twelve years under PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, making him the longest-serving Secretary of State in United States history.[1]
Born in alog cabin in what is nowPickett County, Tennessee, Hull’s early career included service as a lawyer, military officer in theSpanish–American War, state legislator, and judge before his election to theHouse of Representatives in 1906. He served in Congress for over two decades, interrupted only briefly by a term as chairman of theDemocratic National Committee. In 1933, Roosevelt appointed Hull as Secretary of State, a position in which he became a principal architect of theGood Neighbor policy towardLatin America and a key figure in shaping U.S. foreign policy during the lead-up to and early years ofWorld War II.[1]
Hull’s legacy is most closely associated with his efforts to promote international cooperation through trade and diplomacy. He was instrumental in the passage of theReciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934, which reduced U.S. tariffs and paved the way for more open global markets.[1] He was also a driving force in the creation of theUnited Nations, earning him theNobel Peace Prize in 1945 for his “pivotal role” in the organization’s founding.[2]
Cordell Hull was born in alog cabin inOlympus, Tennessee, which is now part ofPickett County, Tennessee, but was then part ofOverton County.[citation needed] He was the third of the five sons of William Paschal Hull (1840–1923) and Mary Elizabeth Hull (née Riley) (1841–1903). His brothers were named Orestes (1868), Sanadius (1870), Wyoming (1875), and Roy (1881).[citation needed]
According to John Gunther, Hull's father had tracked down and killed a man because of ablood feud.[3] His mother was a descendant of Isaac Riley, who was granted 200 acres (0.81 km2) in nearByrdstown in Pickett County, forRevolutionary War service, as well as Samuel Wood who emigrated fromLeicestershire, England on the shipHopewell and fought in the Virginia Militia. Hull's mother's family (Riley-Wood) had numerous ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. Hull devoted a section in his memoirs "Cabin on the Hill" to dispelling an old rumor that his father was partCherokee Indian,[4] and subsequent documented family history has confirmed his ancestry.[citation needed]
Hull attended college from 1889 until 1890. He gave his first speech at the age of 16. At the age of 19, Hull became the elected chairman of theClay CountyDemocratic Party. Hull studied atNational Normal University (later merged withWilmington College, Ohio) from 1889 until 1890. In 1891, he graduated fromCumberland School of Law atCumberland University and was admitted to the bar.[citation needed]
Hull served in theTennessee House of Representatives from 1893 until 1897. During theSpanish–American War, he served inCuba as acaptain in the Fourth Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteer Infantry.
Hull was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives where he served 11 terms (1907–1921 and 1923–1931) totaling 22 years. As a member of the powerfulWays and Means committee, he fought for low tariffs[5] and "almost singlehandedly" wrote the federal income tax law of 1913.[6] He also served as a local judge from 1913 to 1917. After his defeat in the congressional election of 1920, he served as chairman of theDemocratic National Committee. He was one of several candidates for president at the1928 Democratic National Convention, which ultimately choseAl Smith as nominee. Hull was influential in advisingAlbert Gore, Sr. to run for the U.S. Congress in 1938. Hull recorded twenty-five years of combined service in the House and the Senate.
Hull won election to the Senate in 1930, but resigned from it in 1933 to become Secretary of State. Hull became one of Roosevelt's strongest Southern allies during the 1932 presidential campaign.[5]
Roosevelt named him Secretary of State and appointed him to lead the American delegation to theLondon Economic Conference, which then collapsed when Roosevelt rejected its main plans. In 1943, Hull served as United States delegate to theMoscow Conference. At times, his main objective was to enlarge foreign trade and lower tariffs. Some of the issues concerning the American role in World War II, were handled by Roosevelt working throughSumner Welles, the second-ranking official at the State Department, which caused conflicts between the two. Hull did not attend the summit meetings that Roosevelt had withWinston Churchill andJoseph Stalin.[7][page needed] In 1943 Hull ended Welles's career at the State Department by threatening to expose allegations of his homosexuality dating back to 1941,[8] and Hull threatened to resign if Welles was not let go due to the allegations and possibly concern that they could be used to blackmail Welles.[9][10]
In a speech in 1937, New York City MayorFiorello H. La Guardia said that brown-shirted Nazis ought to be featured as the "climax" of a chamber of horrors in the upcomingWorld's Fair. The Nazi government organ,Der Angriff, called the mayor a "Jewish Ruffian" who had been bribed by Jewish and Communistic agents and was a criminal disguised as an officeholder.[11] In the ensuing exchanges, Hull sent a letter of regret to Berlin for intemperate comments on both sides, but he also explained the principle of freedom of speech. As the response of Nazi propaganda organs rose in pitch to include characterizing American women as "prostitutes," Hull sent a letter of protest to Berlin, which elicited an "explanation" but no apology.[12]
In 1938, Hull engaged in a dialog with Mexican Foreign Minister Eduardo Hay concerning the failure of Mexico to compensate Americans who lost farmlands duringagrarian reforms in the late 1920s. He insisted that compensation must be "prompt, adequate and effective". Though theMexican Constitution guaranteed compensation forexpropriation ornationalization, nothing had yet been paid. While Hay admitted Mexico's responsibility, he replied that there is "no rule universally accepted in theory nor carried out in practice which makes obligatory the payment of immediate compensation...."[citation needed] The so-called "Hull formula" has been adopted in many treaties concerning international investment but is still controversial, especially inLatin American countries, which have historically subscribed to theCalvo doctrine, which suggests that compensation is to be decided by the host country and that as long as there is equality between nationals and foreigners and no discrimination, there can be no claim in international law. The tension between the Hull formula and the Calvo doctrine is still important in the law of international investment.[citation needed]
Hull pursued the "Good Neighbor Policy" with Latin American nations, which has been credited with preventing Nazi subterfuge in that region. Hull and Roosevelt also maintained relations withVichy France, which Hull credited with allowing GeneralHenri Giraud's forces to join allied forces in theNorth African campaign against Germany and Italy.[4][page needed]
Hull also handled formal statements with foreign governments. Notably he sent theHull note just prior to thePearl Harbor attack, which was formally titled "Outline of proposed Basis for Agreement Between The United States and Japan." Hull received news of the attack while he was outside his office. The Japanese ambassadorKichisaburō Nomura and Japan's special envoySaburō Kurusu were waiting to see Hull with a 14-part message from the Japanese government that officially notified of a breakdown in negotiations. The United States had brokenJapanese encryption, and Hull knew the message's contents. He blasted the diplomats: "In all my fifty years of public service, I have never seen such a document that was more crowded with infamous falsehood and distortion."[13]
ThroughoutWorld War II, Hull found himself increasingly sidelined from the Roosevelt administration’s inner circle on wartime strategy. While he remained central to formal diplomatic efforts, particularly in Latin America and in laying the groundwork for postwar institutions, he was often excluded from key decisions involving military planning and combined Allied strategy. In his memoirs, Hull expressed frustration that his proposal to participate in high-level war councils—especially those involving both diplomatic and military elements—was ignored by the president. Roosevelt instead relied on informal advisors and military leadership, limiting the Secretary of State’s role in wartime governance.[14][15][16]
Hull chaired theAdvisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy, which was created in February 1942.[citation needed]
When theFree French Forces ofCharles de Gaulle occupied the islands ofSaint-Pierre and Miquelon, south ofNewfoundland, in December 1941, Hull lodged a very strong protest and went as far as referring to theGaullist naval forces as "the so-called Free French." His request to have theVichy governor reinstated was met with strong criticism in the American press: newspapers mocked the "so-called Secretary of State[17]". The islands remained under the Free French until the end of the war. Hull, who always held de Gaulle in disregard, if not detestation, even before the incident, would never cease trying to maneuver against him during the rest of the war.[citation needed]
In 1939, Hull advised Roosevelt to reject theSSSt. Louis, a German ocean liner carrying 936 Jews seeking asylum from Germany. Hull's decision sent the Jews back to Europe on the eve ofthe Holocaust. Some historians estimate that 254 of the passengers were ultimately murdered by the Nazis.[citation needed]
Okay ...there were two conversations on the subject between (Secretary of the Treasury) Morgenthau and Secretary of State Cordell Hull. In the first, 3:17 PM on 5 June 1939, Hull made it clear to Morgenthau that the passengers could not legally be issued U.S. tourist visas because they had no return addresses. Furthermore, Hull made it clear to Morgenthau that the issue at hand was between the Cuban government and the passengers. The U.S., in effect, had no role. In the second conversation at 3:54 PM on June 6, 1939, Morgenthau said they did not know where the ship was and he inquired whether it was "proper to have the Coast Guard look for it". Hull responded by saying that he didn't see any reason why it could not. Hull then informed him that he did not think that Morgenthau would want the search for the ship to get into the newspapers. Morgenthau said "Oh no. No, no. They would just—oh, they might send a plane to do patrol work. There would be nothing in the papers." Hull responded "Oh, that would be all right."[18]
In September 1940, First LadyEleanor Roosevelt maneuvered with another State Department official to bypass Hull's refusal to allow Jewish refugees aboard a Portuguese ship, theSS Quanza, to receive visas to enter the U.S. Through her efforts, the Jewish refugees disembarked on September 11, 1940, in Virginia.[19] In a similar incident, American Jews sought to raise money to prevent the mass murder of Romanian Jews but were blocked by the State Department. "In wartime, in order to send money out of the United States, two government agencies had to sign a simple release—the Treasury Department underHenry Morgenthau and the State Department under Secretary Cordell Hull. Morgenthau signed immediately. The State Department delayed, delayed, and delayed, as more Jews were dying in the Transnistria camps."[20]
In 1940, Jewish representatives in the United States lodged an official complaint against the discriminatory policies the State Department was using against the Jews. The results were fatal: Hull gave strict orders to every United States consulate worldwide forbidding the issuing of visas to Jews; at the same time a Jewish congressman petitioned Roosevelt, requesting his permission to allow twenty thousand Jewish children from Europe to enter the United States. The President did not respond to the petition.[21]
Hull was the underlying force and architect in thecreation of theUnited Nations, as recognized by the 1945Nobel Peace Prize, an honor for which Roosevelt nominated him. During World War II, Hull and Roosevelt had worked toward the development of a world organization to prevent a third World War. Hull and his staff drafted the "Charter of the United Nations" in mid-1943.[22]
Hull resigned on November 30, 1944, due to failing health. To this day he remains the longest-serving US Secretary of State, having served for eleven years and nine months in the post. Roosevelt described Hull upon his departure as "the one person in all the world who has done his most to make this great plan for peace (the United Nations) an effective fact".[citation needed] TheNorwegian Nobel Committee honored Hull with theNobel Peace Prize in 1945 in recognition of his efforts for peace and understanding in theWestern Hemisphere, his trade agreements, and his work to establish the United Nations.
In January 1948, Hull published his two-volume memoirs, an excerpt from which appeared inThe New York Times.[23]
At the age of 45, in 1917, Hull married a widow, Rose Frances (Witz) Whitney (1875–1954), of an Austrian Jewish family of Staunton, Virginia. The couple had no children. Mrs. Hull died at age 79, inStaunton, Virginia, in 1954. She is buried inWashington D.C. atWashington National Cathedral.[citation needed]
Hull died on July 23, 1955, at age 83, at his home in Washington, D.C., after a lifelong struggle with familial remitting-relapsingsarcoidosis (often confused withtuberculosis). He is buried in the vault of the Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea in the Washington National Cathedral.[citation needed]
Hull's memory is preserved byCordell Hull Dam on theCumberland River nearCarthage, Tennessee. Thedam impoundsCordell Hull Lake, covering approximately 12,000 acres (49 km2).
His law school,Cumberland School of Law, continues to honor him with a Cordell Hull Speaker's Forum and theMoot Court Room.
A statue of Hull graces the campus of Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee.
Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park, nearByrdstown, Tennessee, was established in 1997 to preserve Hull's birthplace and various personal effects Hull had donated to the citizens ofPickett County, including his Nobel Peace Prize.
A segment ofKentucky highway routes70,90,63, and163, fromMammoth Cave National Park nearCave City south to the Tennessee State Line nearHestand, is named "Cordell Hull Highway", and is part ofthat state's scenic byway system.
TheCordell Hull Building, on Capitol Hill in Nashville, Tennessee, is a secure 10-story building that contains the offices of theTennessee Legislature.
TheEisenhower Executive Office Building (formerly the Old Executive Office Building) in Washington, DC, next to the White House, contains the ornately decorated "Cordell Hull Room" on the second floor, which is used for meetings. The room was Cordell Hull's office when he served as U.S. Secretary of State.
Cordell Hull Park, located at 13415 Warren Avenue in the East Garrison neighborhood, an unincorporated area of Monterey County, California, is approximately 0.75-acre in size and contains a basketball court, playground, and a grassy playfield.
The U.S. Postal Service issued a 5-cent commemorative stamp honoring Cordell Hull on October 5, 1963.
Hull is one of the presidential cabinet members who are characters in the musicalAnnie.[24]
The Angriff carries a headline, 'Jewish ruffian La Guardia's new Insolence'...
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 4th congressional district 1907–1921 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 4th congressional district 1923–1931 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theDemocratic National Committee 1921–1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromTennessee (Class 2) 1930 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Tennessee 1931–1933 Served alongside:Kenneth McKellar | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | United States Secretary of State 1933–1944 | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Laureate of theNobel Peace Prize 1945 | Succeeded by |
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