Cordell Hull built his political career in Tennessee as a lawyer, state legislator, and circuit judge before entering the United States House of Representatives in 1907. During House service he advocated lower tariffs and helped frame income and inheritance tax legislation. He chaired the Democratic National Committee and served briefly in the Senate before Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him secretary of state in 1933.

Hull made trade liberalization a diplomatic objective. He argued that commercial barriers encouraged rivalry and instability, and helped secure the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934. The law enabled negotiated tariff reductions and supplied an enduring basis for American trade diplomacy. In the Western Hemisphere he supported the Good Neighbor policy, announcing a commitment to nonintervention at the Montevideo conference in 1933.

His tenure encompassed the collapse of peace and American entry into the Second World War. Negotiations with Japan failed to resolve conflict over its expansion in Asia; the American note delivered in November 1941 called for Japanese withdrawal from China and Indochina. The department's restrictive approach to refugees also formed part of his record. In 1939 the United States refused admission to passengers aboard the St. Louis, most of them Jewish refugees, who were forced to return to Europe. This failure complicates his record of international cooperation.

Hull promoted a postwar organization through which states could pursue collective security and negotiated solutions. He helped build support for the United Nations, although its creation involved many officials and allied governments. Ill health led him to resign in November 1944 after nearly twelve years in office, the longest tenure of any secretary of state. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 for his work toward international organization, he remained identified with the United Nations project. His program linked freer trade and diplomatic cooperation.