Similarly, the outbreak of World War I led a congressman from Tennessee to believe that governments fighting over markets and scrambling to create colonial trade blocs had been an important cause of the conflict. He became convinced that freer world trade could make a positive contribution to world peace. That congressman, Cordell Hull, eventually became Secretary of State (serving from 1933–44) and worked tirelessly to help reduce trade barriers around the world. His purpose was both political (world peace) as well as economic (world prosperity). More than any other individual, Hull was the
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