English: Tomb of Cordell Hull in the south aisle of the crypt level of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

Hull was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1907 to 1921 and again from 1923 to 1931 -- a total of 22 years. As a member of the powerful Ways and Means committee, he fought for low tariffs and authored the federal income tax laws of 1913 and 1916 and the inheritance tax of 1916. He ran for President in 1928. Hull was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1930. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named him Secretary of State. Hull served throughout World War II, although his stiff-necked conduct toward the Japanese in late 1941 probably contributed to Imperial Japan's impression that the U.S. would, sooner or later, seek war. That perception led directly to Japan's decision to launch the attack on Pearl Harbor. Hull resigned as Secretary of State in November 1944 because of failing health. He was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945. Hull was the longest-serving Secretary of State at 11 years, nine months. Hull died in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 1955, after a lifelong struggle with sarcoidosis (nodules throughout the body's organs which become inflamed periodically).

Hull was interred in the burial vault beneath the Joseph of Arimathea Chapel. His wife, who preceded him in death, had already been buried there. This plaque is in the south aisle of the crypt level, just outside the Joseph of Arimathea Chapel and roughly above the place where Hull lies.