DESERET NEWS (February, 1933): Under a resolution adopted by the Senate Friday afternoon, former Governor George H. Dern is indorsed for the secretary of interior portfolio in the cabinet of President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The former governor now has united support of both houses of the Utah Legislature. The vote in the senate was unanimous, although Senator W.D. Candland, (R.) Sanpete County, rose to question the propriety of voting on the question. He recalled that four years ago, he opposed a movement to indorse a member of his own party for a high federal position.He said, however, that he wrote and proposed the resolution adopted by the Utah Woolgrowers' Association indorsing the former governor for the cabinet post.
The man who served as Utah governor from 1925 to 1932 was, in fact, made a part of Roosevelt's cabinet as Secretary of War, not Interior. He served in the position from 1933 to 1936. He died in August of that year. His term covered the uneasy years of the 30s, before Adolph Hitler came to power and began the raids on eastern European countries that would lead to World War II.