PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT - CIVIL APPOINTMENT SIGNED 08/31/1938 CO-SIGNED BY: CORDELL HULL - HFSID 16530

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT and CORDELL HULL
The President and Secretary of State sign a document appointing a member of the Civil Aeronautics Authority - an agency newly created by FDR - to head the US delegation to an international conference on private aviation.
Typed DS: "Franklin D. Roosevelt" as President and "Cordell Hull" as Secretary of State, 1 page, 10x13½. Mounted to cardstock. Washington, 1938 August 31. Appointment of G. Grant Mason, Jr., a Member of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, as "Chairman of the Delegation of the United States of America to the Fourth International Conference on Private Air Law to be held at Brussels, Belgium, beginning September 19, 1938..." In 1938, the federal government had formed the Civil Aeronautics Authority, which took responsibility for non-military aviation. Nine days earlier, on August 22, 1938, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT had signed Executive Order No. 7959, which transferred certain personnel, property and appropriations from the Department of Commerce and the Interstate Commerce Commission to the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The CAA, which had the power to regulate airline fares and determine routes, was split into two agencies - the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) - in 1940. The conference in Belgium mentioned in this letter was held just six months after Germany annexed Austria. CORDELL HULL (1971-1955) was Secretary of State longer than anyone in U.S. history, from 1933-1944. He was awarded the 1945 Nobel Peace Prize for his peace efforts as Secretary of State. Hull was the chief architect of the U.S. Good Neighbor Policy towards Latin America and began early in WWII to plan the postwar international organization that became the United Nations. 3¾-inch diameter paper seal affixed at left margin. Lightly soiled and stained at blank areas. Overall, fine condition,