Ben Muse

Cordell Hull and the Space Aliens

Some stories are just too good not to pass on, even if you wonder whether or not they are true: Cordell Hull saw Aliens in Glass Containers .

In the beginning...

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is the 1947 agreement that provided a framework for the gradual reduction of tariffs and the expansion of trade since the Second World War.  This document is one of the load-bearing walls of the modern world.

Douglas Irwin, Petros Mavroidis and Alan Sykes are working on a book on the origins of the GATT.  Here's the Sept 19, 2007 draft of the introduction and first chapter: The Genesis of the GATT.

The day Cordell Hull put one over on Dean Acheson

Cordell Hull was FDR's Secretary of State from 1933 to 1944, an ardent advocate of liberal trading rules, and the man most responsible for the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934 - landmark trade legislation leading to lower tariffs (Happy Birthday RTAA!, Ben Muse, June 12, 2006).

In late 1933, Dean Acheson, the future Secretary of State, was a Treasury Undersecretary. 

In the fall of 1933, Hull put one over on Acheson and the Treasury.  The occasion was a negotiation with the British over the disposition of World War I debts.  Michael Butler tells the story:

Happy Birthday RTAA!

FDR signed the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act (RTAA) 0n June 12, 1934.  The text of the RTAA is at the end of this post.

Who was Cordell Hull?

Cordell Hull was FDR's Secretary of State for twelve years.  No one has served in that post longer.  For some people he's a figure of fun, but others remember him for at least one, very special, achievement...