American politician (1871?1955)
Cordell Hull
|
---|
|
|
|
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.
|
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|
In office
March 4, 1931 ? March 3, 1933
|
Preceded by
| William Emerson Brock
|
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Succeeded by
| Nathan L. Bachman
|
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|
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
|
---|
|
In office
November 2, 1921 ? July 22, 1924
|
Preceded by
| George White
|
---|
Succeeded by
| Clem L. Shaver
|
---|
|
|
Born
| (
1871-10-02
)
October 2, 1871
Olympus, Tennessee
, U.S.
|
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Died
| July 23, 1955
(1955-07-23)
(aged 83)
Washington, D.C.
, U.S.
|
---|
Resting place
| Washington National Cathedral
|
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Political party
| Democratic
|
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Spouse
|
Rose Frances (Witz) Whitney
(
m.
1917; died 1954)
|
---|
Education
| National Normal University
Cumberland University
(
LLB
)
|
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Awards
| Nobel Peace Prize
|
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Signature
| |
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|
Allegiance
| United States
|
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Branch/service
| Tennessee Volunteer Infantry
|
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Rank
| Captain
|
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Battles/wars
| Spanish?American War
|
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|
Cordell Hull
(October 2, 1871 – July 23, 1955) was an American politician from
Tennessee
and the
longest-serving
U.S. Secretary of State
, holding the position for 11 years (1933?1944) in the administration of President
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
during most of
World War II
. Before that appointment, Hull represented Tennessee for two years in the United States Senate and 22 years in the House of Representatives.
Hull received the
Nobel Peace Prize
in 1945 for his role in establishing the
United Nations
, and was referred to by President Roosevelt as the "Father of the United Nations".
[1]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Cordell Hull was born in a
log cabin
in
Olympus, Tennessee
, which is now part of
Pickett County, Tennessee
, but was then part of
Overton County
.
[
citation needed
]
He was the third of the five sons of William Paschal Hull (1840?1923) and Mary Elizabeth Hull (nee 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 a
blood feud
.
[2]
His mother was a descendant of Isaac Riley, who was granted 200 acres (0.81 km
2
) in near
Byrdstown
in Pickett County, for
Revolutionary War
service, as well as Samuel Wood who emigrated from
Leicestershire
, England on the ship
Hopewell
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 part
Cherokee
Indian,
[3]
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 the
Clay County
Democratic Party
. Hull studied at
National Normal University
(later merged with
Wilmington College, Ohio
) from 1889 until 1890. In 1891, he graduated from
Cumberland School of Law
at
Cumberland University
and was admitted to the bar.
[
citation needed
]
Early career
[
edit
]
Hull served in the
Tennessee House of Representatives
from 1893 until 1897. During the
Spanish?American War
, he served in
Cuba
as a
captain
in the Fourth Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteer Infantry.
[
citation needed
]
From 1913 to 1917, Hull served as a local judge; later he was elected to the
United States House of Representatives
where he served 11 terms (1917?1931 and 1923?1931) totaling 22 years. As a member of the powerful
Ways and Means committee
, he fought for low tariffs
[4]
and claimed authorship of the federal income tax laws of 1923 and 1926 and the
inheritance tax
of 1926. After his defeat in the congressional election of 1920, he served as chairman of the
Democratic National Committee
. He was one of several candidates for president at the
1928 Democratic National Convention
, which ultimately chose
Al Smith
as nominee. Hull was influential in advising
Albert 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.
[
citation needed
]
Secretary of State
[
edit
]
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.
[4]
Roosevelt named him Secretary of State and appointed him to lead the American delegation to the
London Economic Conference
, which then collapsed when Roosevelt rejected its main plans. In 1943, Hull served as United States delegate to the
Moscow Conference
. At all times, his main objective was to enlarge foreign trade and lower tariffs. The more important issue of the American role in World War II was handled by Roosevelt who worked through
Sumner Welles
, the second-ranking official at the State Department. Hull did not attend the summit meetings that Roosevelt had with
Winston Churchill
and
Joseph Stalin
.
[5]
[
page needed
]
In 1943, Hull finally destroyed Welles's career by threatening to expose his homosexuality.
[6]
In a speech in 1937, New York City Mayor
Fiorello H. La Guardia
said that brown-shirted Nazis ought to be featured as the "climax" of a chamber of horrors in the upcoming
World'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.
[7]
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.
[8]
In 1938, Hull engaged in a dialog with Mexican Foreign Minister Eduardo Hay concerning the failure of Mexico to compensate Americans who lost farmlands during
agrarian reforms
in the late 1920s. He insisted that compensation must be "prompt, adequate and effective". Though the
Mexican Constitution
guaranteed compensation for
expropriation
or
nationalization
, 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 in
Latin American
countries, which have historically subscribed to the
Calvo 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 with
Vichy France
, which Hull credited with allowing General
Henri Giraud
's forces to join allied forces in the
North African campaign
against Germany and Italy.
[3]
[
page needed
]
Hull also handled formal statements with foreign governments. Notably he sent the
Hull note
just prior to the
Pearl 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 ambassador
Kichisabur? Nomura
and Japan's special envoy
Sabur? 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 broken
Japanese encryption
, and Hull knew the message 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."
[9]
Hull chaired the
Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy
, which was created in February 1942.
[
citation needed
]
When the
Free French Forces
of
Charles de Gaulle
occupied the islands of
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon
, south of
Newfoundland
, in December 1941, Hull lodged a very strong protest and went as far as referring to the
Gaullist
naval forces as "the so-called Free French." His request to have the
Vichy
governor reinstated was met with strong criticism in the American press: newspapers mocked the "so-called Secretary of State
[10]
". 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
]
Jews and SS
St. Louis
incident
[
edit
]
In 1939, Hull advised Roosevelt to reject the
SS
St. Louis
, a German ocean liner carrying 936 Jews seeking asylum from Germany. Hull's decision sent the Jews back to Europe on the eve of the
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 as 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."
[11]
In September 1940, First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt
maneuvered with another State Department official to bypass Hull's refusal to allow Jewish refugees aboard a Portuguese ship, the
SS
Quanza
, to receive visas to enter the U.S. Through her efforts, the Jewish refugees disembarked on September 11, 1940, in Virginia.
[12]
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 under
Henry 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."
[13]
In 1940, Jewish representatives in the USA 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 USA 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 USA. The President did not respond to the petition.
[14]
Establishing the United Nations
[
edit
]
Hull was the underlying force and architect in the
creation
of the
United Nations
, as recognized by the 1945 Nobel Prize for Peace, an honor for which Franklin D. 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.
[15]
Later years
[
edit
]
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
]
The
Norwegian Nobel Committee
honored Hull with the
Nobel Peace Prize
in 1945 in recognition of his efforts for peace and understanding in the
Western 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 in
The New York Times
.
[16]
Personal life and death
[
edit
]
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, in
Staunton, Virginia
, in 1954. She is buried in
Washington D.C.
at
Washington 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-relapsing
sarcoidosis
(often confused with
tuberculosis
). He is buried in the vault of the Chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea in the Washington National Cathedral.
[
citation needed
]
Legacy
[
edit
]
Hull's memory is preserved by
Cordell Hull Dam
on the
Cumberland River
near
Carthage, Tennessee
. The
dam
impounds
Cordell Hull Lake
, covering approximately 12,000 acres (49 km
2
).
His law school,
Cumberland School of Law
, continues to honor him with a Cordell Hull Speaker's Forum and the
Moot Court
Room.
Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park
, near
Byrdstown, Tennessee
, was established in 1997 to preserve Hull's birthplace and various personal effects Hull had donated to the citizens of
Pickett County
, including his Nobel Peace Prize.
A segment of
Kentucky
highway routes
70
,
90
,
63
, and
163
, from
Mammoth Cave National Park
near
Cave City
south to the Tennessee State Line near
Hestand
, is named "Cordell Hull Highway", and is part of
that state's scenic byway system
.
The
Cordell Hull Building
, on Capital Hill in Nashville, Tennessee, is a secure 10-story building that contains the offices of the
Tennessee Legislature
.
The
Eisenhower 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.
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 musical
Annie
.
[17]
See also
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
Hulen, Bertram D. (1946-10-25).
"Charter Becomes 'Law of Nations', 29 Ratifying It"
.
The New York Times
. p. 1
. Retrieved
May 5,
2014
.
- ^
Gunther, John (1950).
Roosevelt in Retrospect
. Harper & Brothers. pp.
132
.
- ^
a
b
Cordell Hull,
Memoirs
- ^
a
b
Benton, James C. (2022).
Fraying Fabric: How Trade Policy and Industrial Decline Transformed America
. University of Illinois Press. pp. 33?35.
ISBN
978-0-252-04465-6
.
JSTOR
10.5406/j.ctv31xf5rf
.
- ^
Charles E. Bohlen,
Witness to History 1929?1969
(1973)
- ^
Joseph Lelyveld (2017).
His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt
. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. p. 69.
ISBN
9780345806598
.
- ^
"Hull gives Reich Official 'Apology'
"
(PDF)
.
The New York Times
. March 5, 1937. pp. 1, 8
. Retrieved
May 5,
2014
.
The Angriff carries a headline, 'Jewish ruffian La Guardia's new Insolence'...
- ^
Michael Zalampas (1989).
Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich in American Magazines, 1923?1939
. Popular Press. p. 108.
ISBN
978-0879724627
.
- ^
Mark Stoler; Molly Michelmore (2018).
The United States in World War II: A Documentary History
. Hackett. pp. 27?31.
ISBN
9781624667497
.
- ^
Jackson, Julian (2023).
France on Trial: the Case of Marshal Petain
. Penguin UK.
ISBN
9780241450253
.
- ^
"USCG: Frequently Asked Questions"
. 2014-11-10. Archived from
the original
on 10 November 2014
. Retrieved
2022-05-12
.
- ^
Buckley, Cara (July 8, 2007).
"Fleeing Hitler and Meeting a Reluctant Miss Liberty"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Gruber,
Inside of Time
p. 159 (2003).
- ^
The Australian Jewish News
(6 May 1994), p. 9.
- ^
, Ruth B. Russell, and Jeannette E. Muther,
A History of the United Nations Charter: the Role of the United States 1940-1945
(1958).
- ^
"Memoirs of Cordell Hull; His 12 Years in Office Marked by Amity With Roosevelt"
.
The New York Times
. 26 January 1948. p. 1
. Retrieved
2 March
2021
.
- ^
Annie Casting Information
, Music Theatre International website
Archived
October 7, 2007, at the
Wayback Machine
General and cited sources
[
edit
]
Primary
[
edit
]
Secondary
[
edit
]
- Dallek, Robert (1979).
Franklin D. Roosevelt and American foreign policy, 1932-1945
.
Oxford University Press
.
- Pratt, Julius W. (1964).
Cordell Hull, 1933?44
, 2 vol.
- Biography at U.S. Congress
- Butler, Michael A. (1998),
Cautious Visionary: Cordell Hull and Trade Reform, 1933?1937
, Kent, Ohio:
Kent State University Press
,
ISBN
978-0873385961
.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher D., and Sumner Welles (2008).
Postwar Planning and the Quest for a New World Order.
Columbia University Press
.
ISBN
0231142587
.
- Gellman, Irwin F. (2002).
Secret Affairs: FDR, Cordell Hull, and Sumner Welles
. Enigma Books.
ISBN
978-1929631117
.
- Robertson, Charles Langner. "The American Secretary of State: A Study of the Office Under Henry L. Stimson And Cordell Hull." (PhD dissertation, Princeton University; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1959. 6005044).
- Woolner, David B. (1996).
"The Frustrated Idealists: Cordell Hull, Anthony Eden and the Search for Anglo-American Cooperation, 1933? 1938"
(
PhD dissertation
).
McGill University
.
External links
[
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]
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