Hull, Cordell (1871-1955)

American statesman and diplomat who was the longest-serving Secretary of State in U.S. history. From 1907 to 1931, except for two years when he was chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Hull was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee. He was U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1931 to 1933, when he was appointed Secretary of State by President Franklin D. Roosevelt – a post that he held until he retired due to ill health in 1944. Hull was an important force behind the creation of the United Nations, and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1945.