Évian Conference
In July 1938 he represented the U.S. at the Évian Conference, in Évian-les-Bains, France, convened at the initiative of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the issue of increasing numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution leading up to the onset of World War II. Before German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler turned to mass extermination of Jews by way of The Holocaust, the possibility of having refugees sent to willing countries was posed. Sumner Welles, the U.S. Under Secretary of State had proposed an international conference to address the immigration issue. Going into the conference Roosevelt gave Taylor the instruction: "All you need to do is get these people together." Taylor was appointed chairman, and while he was not able to get concessions on immigration, a proposal to create the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees was approved.