page_title: Cordell Hull
section_title: Secretary of State
hierarchical_section_title: Cordell Hull / Secretary of State
caption_attribution_description: English: Washington, D.C. Representatives of 26 United Nations at Flag day ceremonies in the White House to reaffirm their pact. Seated, left to right: Dr. Francisco Castillo Najera, Ambassador of Mexico; President Roosevelt; Manuel Quezon, President of the Philippine Islands; and Secretary of State Cordell Hull Deutsch: Repräsentanten von 26 Vereinten Nationen bekräftigen ihren Pakt, im Hintergrund die V-förmig aufgestellten Flaggen aller Unterzeichnerstaaten. In der Mitte, sitzend von links nach rechts, der Botschafter von Mexiko, Präsident Roosevelt, der philippinische Präsident und der amerikanische Außenminister. Die Zeremonie wurde im Juli 1942 begangen, Mexiko (5. Juni 1942) und die Philippinen (10. Juni 1942) waren dem am 1. Januar 1942 ausgerufenen Pakt später beigetreten.
context_page_description: Cordell Hull was an American politician from Tennessee best known as the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during most of World War II. 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".
  Born in Olympus, Tennessee, he pursued a legal career after graduating from the Cumberland School of Law. He won election to the Tennessee House of Representatives and served in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. He represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives from 1907 to 1921 and from 1923 to 1931. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Hull helped pass the Revenue Act of 1913 and the Revenue Act of 1916, which implemented the federal income tax and the federal estate tax. He served as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1921 to 1924 and was a presidential candidate at the 1928 Democratic National Convention.
  Hull won election to the Senate in 1930, but resigned from the Senate in 1933 to become Secretary of State.
context_section_description: Hull was elected to the Senate in 1930. In 1933, Roosevelt named him Secretary of State and appointed him to lead the American delegation to the London Economic Conference, but it collapsed when Roosevelt publicly rejected the 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 Churchill and Stalin. In 1943, Hull finally destroyed Welles's career by threatening to expose his homosexuality.
  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. 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.
  In 1938, Hull engaged in a famous 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...." 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.
  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.
  Hull handled formal statements with foreign governments. Prior to the attack, he had to Japan sent the Hull note, which was formally titled "Outline of proposed Basis for Agreement Between The United States and Japan." Hull received the news of the start of the Pearl Harbor attack while he was outside his office. The Japanese ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura and Japan's special envoy Saburō Kurusu were waiting to see Hull with a 14-part message from the Japanese government that officially notified of a breakdown in negotiations. The US had broken the code, and Hull knew the 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."
  Hull chaired the Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy, which was created in February 1942.
  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 even went as far as referring to the Gaullist naval forces as "the so-called Free French." His request 
caption: The 26 United Nations Flags from Dr. Francisco Castillo Najera, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Manuel Quezon, and the U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull in July 1942.
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