He was Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in 1947, second in line to the governorship, when the governor, secretary of state, and senate president were all killed in a plane crash.

[2] During World War I, he served in the United States Navy as a medical corpsman, and upon his return home, held a variety of jobs before entering Portland's Northwestern School of Law (now a part of Lewis & Clark College), and was admitted to the bar in 1926.

[2] On October 28, 1947,[3] Governor Earl Snell was killed in a plane crash along with the next in line of succession, President of the Senate Marshall E. Cornett.

During the height of the controversy, State Senator Douglas McKay, a friend of late Governor Snell, and president of the Automobile Dealer's Association, announced that he would challenge Hall in the 1948 Republican primary, and quickly launched a well-financed and organized campaign.

A contentious race ensued, in which charges of conflicts of interest and immorality were brought to bear against Hall because of his liquor industry ties.