SECRETARY OF STATE (1933-1944)

A Popular Democrat.

Cordell Hull was the longest-serving secretary of state in American history. For much of that time he was one of the most popular Democrats in the nation, and until President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced his intention to seek an unprecedented third term, Hull was considered the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1940.

Background.

Born in Tennessee, Hull graduated from Cumberland University Law School in 1891 and was elected to the Tennessee legislature two years later. After serving in the Spanish-American War and working as a lawyer, he was appointed a Tennessee circuit court judge in 1903. In 1907 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where as a progressive Democrat he was instrumental in sponsoring several important tax laws, including the Federal Income Tax Act of 1913. During the 1920s he actively promoted...