John S. Cooper
Encyclopedia
John Sherman Cooper was a politician, jurist, and diplomat from the US state of Kentucky
. He served three non-consecutive, partial terms in the United States Senate
before being elected to two full terms in 1960 and 1966. He also served as U.S Ambassador to India
from 1955 to 1956 and U.S. Ambassador to East Germany
from 1974 to 1976. He was the first Republican
to be popularly elected to more than one term as a senator from Kentucky, and in both 1960 and 1966, he set records for the largest victory margin for a Kentucky senatorial candidate from either party.
Cooper's first political service was as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
from 1927 to 1929. In 1930, he was elected county judge of Pulaski County
. After a failed gubernatorial bid in 1939, he joined the Army in 1942. During World War II
, he earned the Bronze Star Medal
for reorganizing the Bavaria
n judicial system after the allied victory in Europe
. While still in Germany, he was elected circuit judge
for Kentucky's 28th district. He returned home to accept the judgeship, which he held for less than a year before resigning to seek election to A. B. "Happy" Chandler
's vacated seat in the U.S. Senate. He won the seat by 41,823 votes, the largest victory margin by any Republican for any office in Kentucky at the time.
During his first term in the Senate, Cooper voted with the majority of his party just 51% of the time. He was defeated in his re-election bid in 1948, after which he accepted an appointment by President
Harry S. Truman
as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
and served as a special assistant to Secretary of State Dean Acheson
during the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Cooper was again elected to a partial term the Senate in 1952. The popular Cooper was likely to be re-elected in 1954 until the Democrats nominated former Vice-President Alben W. Barkley
. Cooper lost the general election and was appointed Ambassador to India by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
in 1955. Cooper gained the confidence of Indian Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru
and dramatically improved relations between the U.S. and the recently-independent state of India
, helping rebuff Soviet
hopes of expanding Communism
in Asia. Barkley died in 1956, and Eisenhower requested that Cooper seek Barkley's open seat. Cooper reluctantly acquiesced and was elected to serve out the rest of Barkley's term.
In 1960, Cooper was re-elected, securing his first full, six-year term in the Senate. Newly-elected President John F. Kennedy
– Cooper's former Senate colleague – chose Cooper to conduct a secret fact-finding mission to Moscow
and New Delhi
. Following Kennedy's assassination
in November 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson
appointed Cooper to the Warren Commission
to investigate the assassination. Cooper soon became an outspoken opponent of Johnson's decision to escalate U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War
, consistently advocating for negotiation with the North Vietnam
ese instead. After Cooper's re-election in 1966, he worked with Idaho
Democrat Frank Church
on a series of amendments
designed to de-fund further U.S. military operations in the region. These amendments were hailed as the first serious attempt by Congress
to curb presidential authority over military operations during an ongoing war. Aging and increasingly deaf, Cooper did not seek re-election in 1972. His last acts of public service were as Ambassador to East Germany from 1974 to 1976 and as an alternate delegate to the United Nations in 1981. He died in a Washington, D.C. retirement home on February 21, 1991 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
.
. He was the second child and first son of the seven children born to John Sherman and Helen Gertrude (Tartar) Cooper. The Cooper family had been prominent in the Somerset area since brothers Malachi and Edward Cooper migrated from South Carolina
along the Wilderness Trail and through the Cumberland Gap
shortly after Daniel Boone
. His father's parents were staunch Baptist
s who were active in the anti-slavery movement
in the nineteenth century, and the elder John Sherman Cooper (called "Sherman") was named after the Apostle John
and William Tecumseh Sherman
, a hero of the Union
in the Civil War
. The family was very active in local politics; six of Cooper's ancestors, including his father, were elected county judges in Pulaski County
, and two had been circuit judges
. Sherman Cooper engaged in numerous successful business ventures and was known as the wealthiest man in Somerset. At the time of John Sherman Cooper's birth, his father was serving as collector of internal revenue in Kentucky's 8th congressional district
, a position to which he had been appointed by President
Theodore Roosevelt
.
During his youth, Cooper worked delivering newspapers and in railroad yards and his father's coal mines in Harlan County
. Despite having formerly served as county school superintendent, Cooper's father had a low opinion of the public schools, and until he was in the fifth grade, Cooper was privately tutored by a neighbor. While his father was away on business in Texas, his mother sent him to sixth grade at the public school, which he attended thereafter. At Somerset High School
, he played both basketball and football. After the outbreak of World War I
, Cooper joined an informal military training unit at the high school. Two of the school's instructors organized the boys into two companies
, but Cooper, who was given the rank of captain, later recalled that "they taught us how to march and that's about all." During his senior year, Cooper served as class president and class poet. In 1918, he graduated second in his high school class and was chosen to give the commencement speech
.
After graduation, Cooper matriculated at Centre College
in Danville, Kentucky
. While at Centre, Cooper was accepted into the Beta Theta Pi
fraternity. He also played defensive end
on the Praying Colonels' football team
. Cooper was a letterman on the team, playing alongside football notables Bo McMillan, Red Roberts
, Matty Bell
, and Red Weaver
. Another member of the team, John Y. Brown, Sr.
, would later become one of Cooper's political rivals. Coached by Charley Moran
, the team was undefeated in four games in the 1918 season, which was shortened by an outbreak of the Spanish flu.
Although Centre was known as one of Kentucky's foremost colleges in academic quality, Cooper's father wanted him to broaden his education, and after one year at Centre, Cooper transferred to Yale College
. At Yale, he was a classmate of his future U.S. Senate colleague, Stuart Symington
. Cooper was active in many extracurricular activities at Yale, including the Sophomore German Committee, the Junior Prom
enade Committee, the Student Council
, the Class Day Committee, the Southern Club, the University Club, and Beta Theta Pi. A member of the Undergraduate Athletic Association, he played football and basketball, becoming the first person in Yale history to be named captain
of the basketball team in both his junior and senior years. In his senior year, he was accepted into the Skull and Bones
society but regretted not being accepted into Phi Beta Kappa. Upon graduation, he was voted most popular and most likely to succeed in his class.
Cooper earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale in 1923 and enrolled at Harvard Law School
later that year. During the summer break of 1924, he returned to Kentucky, where his father, dying of Bright's disease
, told him that he would soon become the head of the family, and that most of the family's resources had been lost in the economic recession of the early 1920s. Cooper returned to Harvard after his father's death, but soon discovered that the could not simultaneously pursue a law degree and manage his family's affairs. He was admitted to the bar
by examination in 1928 and opened a legal practice in Somerset. Over the next 20 years, he sold his father's remaining assets, paid off the family debts, and financed a college education for his six brothers and sisters.
as a Republican
in 1927. As a member of the House, he was one of only three Republicans
to oppose Republican Governor
Flem D. Sampson
's unsuccessful attempt to politicize the state department of health; the measure failed by a single vote. Cooper supported the governor's plan to provide free textbooks for the state's school children and sponsored legislation to prohibit judges from issuing injunction
s to end labor strikes, although the latter bill did not pass.
In 1929, Cooper declared his candidacy for county judge of Pulaski County. His opponent, the incumbent, was the president of Somerset Bank and was formerly the law partner of Cooper's father. Cooper won the election, however, beginning the first of his eight years as county judge. During his service, he was required by law to enforce eviction
notices, but often helped those he evicted find other housing or gave them money himself, earning him the nickname "the poor man's judge". He reportedly became so depressed by the poverty and suffering of his constituents during the Great Depression
that he had a nervous breakdown
and took a leave of absence
to seek psychiatric treatment.
Cooper served on the board of trustees for the University of Kentucky
from 1935 to 1946. In 1939, he sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination. As a result of a mandatory primary election
law passed in 1935, the Republican nominee would not be chosen by a nominating convention
, as was typical for the party. Cooper garnered only 36% of the vote in the primary, losing the nomination to Lexington
circuit court judge and former Congressman
King Swope
.
, in 1942 Cooper enlisted for service in the United States Army
in World War II. He turned down an immediately-offered officer's commission and chose to enlist as a private
. After basic training, he enrolled in Officer Candidate School
at the Fort Custer Training Center
in Michigan
. He studied military government
and graduated second in his class of 111 students. In 1943, he was commissioned a second lieutenant
and assigned to the 15th Corps of General George Patton's Third Army
as a courier
in the military police. Under Patton, Cooper served in France, Luxembourg, and Germany. Patton ordered all of his unit, including Cooper, to tour the Buchenwald concentration camp
just hours after its liberation.
Following the cessation of hostilities in the war, Cooper oversaw the reorganization of the 239 courts in the German state of Bavaria
, replacing all the Nazi officials, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal
. Among the judges installed by Cooper were Wilhelm Hoegner
, future Minister-President
of Bavaria, and Ludwig Erhard
, the future Chancellor of Germany
. Cooper also served as a legal advisor for the 300,000 displaced persons in his unit's occupation zone seeking repatriation after being brought to Germany as slaves by the Nazis. Under the terms of the agreement reached at the Yalta Conference
, all displaced Russian nationals were to be returned to the Soviet Union
, but Soviet negotiators decided that the agreement did not apply to non-Russian spouses and children of the nationals. Cooper brought this to the attention of General Patton, who rescinded the repatriation order in his unit's occupation zone. He received a citation from the Third Army's military government section for his action.
In 1944, while he was still in the Army, Cooper married Evelyn Pfaff, a registered nurse. Cooper was elected without opposition as circuit judge of Kentucky's twenty-eighth judicial district in 1945, despite still being in Germany and not campaigning for the office. He was discharged from the Army with the rank of captain in February 1946 and returned to Kentucky to assume the judgeship to which he had been elected.
, Wayne
and Clinton
counties. During his tenure, blacks were allowed to serve on trial juries in the district for the first time. Of the first 16 opinions he issued during his time on the bench, 15 were upheld by the Kentucky Court of Appeals
, Kentucky's court of last resort at the time.
Cooper resigned his judgeship in November 1946 to seek the U.S. Senate
seat vacated when A. B. "Happy" Chandler
resigned to accept the position of Commissioner of Baseball
. Cooper's opponent, former Congressman and Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives John Y. Brown, Sr.
, was better known and widely believed to be the favorite in the race. However, Brown had alienated Chandler's supporters in the Democratic Party
during a hotly-contested senatorial primary between Brown and Chandler in 1942, and this group worked against his election in 1946. Further, the Louisville Courier-Journal opposed Brown because of his attacks on former Senator J. C. W. Beckham
and Judge Robert Worth Bingham
, who were heads of a powerful political machine
in Louisville
. With these two factors working against Brown, Cooper won the election to fill Chandler's unexpired term by 41,823 votes, the largest victory margin by any Republican for any office in Kentucky at the time. His victory marked only the third time in Kentucky's history that a Republican had been popularly elected to the Senate. The move to Washington, D.C. proved to be too much for Cooper's already strained marriage. In 1947, he filed for divorce, charging abandonment
.
Cooper described himself as "a truly terrible public speaker" and rarely made addresses from the Senate floor. He was known as an independent Republican during his career in the Senate. In the first roll-call vote
of his career, he opposed transferring investigatory powers to Republican Owen Brewster
's special War Investigating Committee
. His second vote, directing that proceeds from the sale of war surplus
material be used to pay off war debts, also went against the majority of the Republican caucus, prompting Ohio
Republican Robert A. Taft to ask him "Are you a Republican or a Democrat? When are you going to start voting with us?" Cooper responded, "If you'll pardon me, I was sent here to represent my constituents, and I intend to vote as I think best."
A few days after being sworn in, Cooper co-sponsored his first piece of legislation, a bill to provide federal aid for education. The bill passed the Senate, but not the House. Cooper was made chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Roads, and helped draft a bill authorized $900 million in federal funds to states for highway construction. In 1948, he sponsored a bill to provide price support
for burley tobacco at 90 percent of parity. He insisted on an amendment to the War Claims Act of 1948
that benefits to veterans injured as prisoners
of the Germans and Japanese during World War II be paid immediately using enemy assets. He also co-sponsored legislation allowing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the Nazis to enter the United States legally. In the area of organized labor, he opposed bans on industrywide collective bargaining
and on the establishment of closed shop
s. He voted against putting union
welfare funds under government control, but helped to pass an amendment forbidding compulsory union membership
for workers.
Cooper continued his independence from his party throughout his term, vocally opposing Republican plans to cut taxes despite record national budget deficits and resisted the party's efforts to reduce funding for the Marshall Plan
to rebuild Europe in the aftermath of the war. He worked with fellow Kentuckian Alben Barkley and Oregon Senator Wayne Morse
to undermine Jim Crow laws
enacted by the states and remove obstacles to suffrage
for minorities. He also co-sponsored a bill to create the Medicare
system, although it was defeated at the time. At the end of his partial term in the Senate, he had voted with the Republicans just 51% of the time – the lowest average of any member of the party. Despite his party independence, Cooper headed the Kentucky delegation to the 1948 Republican National Convention
. He supported Arthur Vandenberg for president, but Thomas E. Dewey ultimately received the party's nomination. Cooper himself was mentioned as a possible candidate for vice-president, but ultimately did not receive the nomination and sought re-election to his Senate seat instead. Also in 1948, Centre College awarded Cooper an honorary
Doctor of Laws degree.
Cooper was opposed in his re-election bid by Democratic Congressman Virgil M. Chapman, an ally of Earle C. Clements
, who had been elected governor in 1947. As one of only a few Democrats who had voted in favor of the Taft-Hartley Act
, Chapman had lost the support of organized labor, a key constituency for the Democrats. The Democratic-leaning Louisville Times
endorsed Cooper, but the presence of Kentucky's favorite son, Alben Barkley, on the ballot as Harry S. Truman
's running mate in the 1948 presidential election
ensured a strong Democratic turnout in the state. Both Barkley and Clements stressed party unity during the campaign, and although Cooper polled much better than the Republican presidential ticket, he ultimately lost to Chapman in the general election by 24,480 votes.
Following his defeat, Cooper resumed the practice of law in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Gardner, Morison and Rogers. In 1949, President Truman appointed Cooper as one of five delegates to the United Nations General Assembly
. He was an alternate delegate to that body in 1950 and 1951. Secretary of State
Dean Acheson
chose Cooper as his advisor to meetings that created North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and at meetings of the NATO Council of Ministers in London in May 1950 and Brussels
in December 1950. Political historian Glenn Finch observed that, while Cooper was well-qualified for his duties at the U.N. and NATO, his presence abroad also made him less available to campaign for the Senate seat vacated by Barkley's elevation to the vice-presidency. Speculation was raised that Clements, who won Barkley's old seat in a special election in 1950, may have influenced Truman and Acheson to make the appointments.
in the early 1950s; some even formed a committee to elect Cooper president. Cooper considered running for governor in 1951, but when Senator Chapman was killed in an automobile accident on March 8, 1951, he decided to make another run for the Senate against Thomas R. Underwood
, Governor Lawrence Wetherby
's appointee to fill the vacancy. Underwood was considered a heavy favorite in the race. Some Republicans faulted Cooper for taking an appointment from Democratic president Harry Truman. Both the Louisville Times and the Louisville Courier-Journal recanted their statements in 1950 that Cooper should seek election to the Senate in 1954; they now feared that the election of a Republican would allow that party to organize the Senate, giving key committee chairmanships to isolationists opposed to continued U.S. involvement in the Korean War
. Nevertheless, Cooper defeated Underwood by 29,000 votes in the election to serve out the remainder of Chapman's term. His victory marked the first time in Kentucky's history that a Republican had been elected to the Senate more than once.
Cooper was named to the Senate Committee on Labor, Education and Public Welfare
and chaired its education and labor subcommittees. He sponsored a bill authorizing public works projects along the Big Sandy River
, including the Tug and Levisa forks. He also supported the reconstruction of the locks and dams
along the Ohio River
and the construction of locks, dams, and reservoirs in the Green River
Valley. He opposed the Dixon-Yates contract
, which would have paid a private company to construct a new power station to generate power for the city of Memphis, Tennessee
, calling instead for authorization for the Tennessee Valley Authority
to issue bonds to finance the construction of new power stations. He supported a comprehensive program benefiting the coal industry and co-sponsored a bill to extending public library services to rural areas.
Cooper continued to be an independent voice in the Senate. During the Red Scare
, he was critical of attempts to permit illegal wiretap
evidence in federal courts and attempts to reduce the protections against self-incrimination granted by the Fifth Amendment
. Nevertheless, he refused to support stripping Joseph McCarthy
, the leading figure in the Red Scare, of his major Senate committee chairmanships, cautioning that "Many of those who bitterly oppose Senator McCarthy call for the same tactics that they charge him with." He was the only Republican to oppose the Bricker Amendment
, which would have limited the president's treaty-making power, because he concluded that the issues addressed by the amendment were not sufficient to warrant a change to the Constitution
. He also opposed the Submerged Lands Act
and the Mexican Farm Labor bill, both of which were supported by the Eisenhower
administration. He denounced Eisenhower's appointment of Albert M. Cole
, an open opponent of public housing
, as Federal Housing Administrator
and opposed many of the agricultural reforms proposed by Eisenhower's Agriculture Secretary, Ezra Taft Benson
. Again, his independence did little to diminish his stature in the party. In 1954, he was named to the Senate Republican Policy Committee.
Cooper again sought re-election in 1954. Democrats first considered Governor Wetherby as his opponent, but Wetherby's candidacy would have drawn a primary challenger from the Happy Chandler faction of the Democratic Party, possibly leading to a party split and Cooper's re-election. Instead, party leaders convinced outgoing Vice-President Barkley, now 77 years old, to run for the seat in order to ensure party unity. There were few policy differences between Barkley and Cooper, who had been deemed the most liberal Republican in the Senate by Americans for Democratic Action
. During the campaign, Cooper was featured on the cover of Time magazine on July 5, 1954. Cooper appealed to women voters who were concerned about the increasingly tense situation in Southeast Asia
and to black voters because of his stands in favor of civil rights. He also claimed that he would be a less partisan Senator than Barkley. Barkley's personal popularity carried him to a 71,000-vote victory, however. Glenn Finch opined that "Barkley was unbeatable in his own state, and it is probable that no other candidate could have defeated Cooper."
nominated Cooper as U.S. Ambassador to India and Nepal
. During his time as a delegate for the United Nations, Cooper had met Indian Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru
and established a cordial working relationship with the Indian delegation, including Nehru's sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
. The Indians had been impressed with Cooper and the Indian government had expressed their desire that Cooper serve as their ambassador from the U.S. Cooper initially rejected the offer of the Indian ambassadorship from Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
but was convinced to accept it by a personal request from President Eisenhower. The Senate confirmed Cooper's nomination on February 4, 1955.
India had only become an independent nation in 1948, and it was considered a potential bulwark against Communism in Asia. U.S.-India relations were strained, however, because of India's recognition of Communist China
, its opposition to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
(SEATO), and its resistance to foreign interference in Indochina
. U.S. News and World Report described the ambassadorship as "one of the most difficult and delicate in all the diplomatic world".
Cooper married Lorraine Rowan Shelvin on March 17, 1955, in Pasadena, California
, just ten days before leaving for India. Twice divorced, Shelvin was the daughter of a wealthy California real estate developer, step-daughter of Vatican
official Prince Domenico Orsini, and a well-known socialite. She was fluent in three languages and also understood Russian. The two had dated for much of the 1950s, but Cooper was hesitant to marry because he had doubts about moving into Shelvin's elaborate Georgetown home. (While in Washington, the unmarried Cooper permanently resided in the Dodge House Hotel.) The move to India removed this barrier, and Secretary of State Dulles encouraged Cooper to marry her before leaving so that the U.S. embassy in New Delhi might have a proper hostess. On April 4, 1955, the couple stopped in England on their way to India to visit with Louis Mountbatten
, the last Governor-General of India
prior to India's achieving its independence. Their discussions about the situation of the Indian people was part of the scant preparation Cooper received before arriving there.
Cooper began his service as ambassador by developing a close personal friendship with Prime Minister Nehru. Nehru's respect and admiration for Cooper soon became widely known. Cooper labored to help officials in Washington, D.C. understand that India's reluctance to align with either the West or the Communists in China and the Soviet Union
was their way of exercising their newly-won independence. At the same time, he defended the U.S. military buildup after World War II, its involvement in the Korean War
, and its membership in mutual security pacts like NATO and SEATO as self-defense measures, not aggressive actions by the U.S. government, as the Indians widely perceived them. Cooper condemned the Eisenhower administration's decision to sell weapons to Pakistan
, which was resented by the Indians, but also felt that the Indian government took some political positions without regard to their moral implications. By late 1955, the Chicago Daily News
reported that Indo-American relations had "improved to a degree not thought possible six months ago".
In a joint communiqué dated December 2, 1955, U.S. Secretary of State Dulles and Portuguese
Foreign Minister Paulo Cunha condemned statements made by Soviet Premier
Nikolai Bulganin
and Soviet Party Chairman Nikita Krushchev during an eighteen-day tour of India. Of particular interest was the communiqué's reference to "Portuguese provinces in the Far East". This phrase referred to Goa
, a Portuguese colony in western India. Although most European nations with holdings near India had granted them to the new independent nation in 1947, Portugal refused to surrender Goa, and the region had become a source of conflict between the two nations. The joint communiqué seemed to indicate U.S. recognition of Portuguese sovereignty in Goa, which undercut Cooper's assurances to the Indians of U.S. neutrality in the matter. Cooper himself did not know about the communiqué until he read an account of it in the Indian media and was therefore unprepared to offer an explanation for it when asked by the Indian Foreign Secretary. Cooper's cable to Washington, D.C. about the matter was reported to have been "bitter", although the contents of the cable have not been released.
The Dulles-Cuhna communiqué touched off anti-American demonstrations in many parts of India. On December 6, Dulles held a news conference during which he reaffirmed U.S. neutrality on the Goa issue, but did not recant claims of Portuguese sovereignty over the region. Prime Minister Nehru announced his intent to file a formal protest to the United States over the communiqué and to address the Indian Parliament
about the matter. In the interim, Cooper secured a meeting with Nehru and forestalled both actions. Cooper became even more upset with Dulles when Dulles authorized withholding $10 million of a $50 million aid package to India; Cooper protested the withholding, and Dulles decided to pay the full amount.
Throughout the early part of 1956, Cooper strongly advocated that the U.S. respect Indian nonalignment and increase economic aid to the country. In August 1956, Congress approved a financial aid package for India that included the largest sale of surplus agricultural products by the United States to any country to that time in history. Cooper's persistence in requesting such aid was critical in getting the package approved, as it was opposed by many administration officials, including John B. Hollister
, Herbert Hoover, Jr.
, and George M. Humphrey
.
Senator Barkley died in office on April 30, 1956. Republican leaders encouraged Cooper to return from India and seek the seat, but Cooper was reluctant to give up his ambassadorship. After a personal appeal from President Eisenhower, however, Cooper acquiesced and declared his candidacy in July 1956. Even after leaving India, he maintained close ties with the country's leaders and was the official U.S. representative at the funerals of Prime Minister Nehru in 1964, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri
in 1966, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
in 1984.
Because Barkley's death occurred after the filing deadline for the November elections, the Democratic State Central Committee had to choose a nominee for the now-open seat. After unsuccessfully attempting to find a compromise candidate that both the Clements and Chandler factions could support, they chose Lawrence Wetherby, whose term as governor had recently expired. Chandler, now serving his second term as governor, was angered by the choice of Wetherby, and most members of his faction either gave Wetherby lukewarm support or outright supported Cooper instead. This, combined with Cooper's personal popularity, led to his victory over Wetherby by 65,000 votes.
Upon his return to the Senate in 1957, Cooper was assigned to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
. In 1959, he challenged Illinois
Senator Everett Dirksen
to become the Republican floor leader
in the Senate, but lost by four votes. In a 1960 poll of fifty journalists conducted by Newsweek
magazine, Cooper was named the ablest Republican member of the Senate. He helped author and co-sponsored the National Defense Education Act
. Together with Senator Jennings Randolph
, he sponsored the Appalachian Regional Development Act, which was designed to address the prevalent poverty in Appalachia
. He succeeded in gaining more state and local control over the anti-poverty group Volunteers in Service to America
. He was a vigorous opponent of measures designed to weaken the Tennessee Valley Authority
.
In 1960, Democrats nominated former governor Keen Johnson
, then an executive with Reynolds Metals
, to oppose Cooper's re-election bid. Cooper had the support of organized labor and benefitted from a large segment of Kentuckians who voted for Republican Richard M. Nixon over Democrat John F. Kennedy
as a reaction against Kennedy's Catholicism in the 1960 presidential election
. Cooper ultimately defeated Johnson by 199,257 votes, a record victory margin for a Kentucky senatorial candidate of either party.
Shortly after his election as president in 1960, Kennedy chose Cooper to conduct a then-secret mission to Moscow and New Delhi to assess the attitudes of the Soviet government toward the new administration. Kennedy and Cooper had served together on the Senate Labor Committee and maintained a social friendship. On the mission, Cooper discovered that the Soviets disliked Kennedy and Nixon equally. Overall, Cooper's report to Kennedy regarding the potential for harmonious relations with the Soviets was extremely pessimistic. After meeting with Secretary Khruschev, Kennedy confirmed to Cooper that his report had been correct and confessed that he wished he'd taken it even more seriously. Cooper supported Kennedy's decision to resume nuclear weapons testing after the Soviets resumed their testing in March 1962, but he urged Kennedy to negotiate an agreement with the Soviets if possible.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
appointed Cooper to the Warren Commission
, which was charged with investigating Kennedy's assassination
in 1963. As one of three Republicans on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee
, he was involved with the investigation of Johnson aide Bobby Baker
in 1964, which he decried as "a whitewash
" when the committee blocked further investigation. He proposed the establishment of a Senate Select Committee on Standards and Conduct
in July 1964 and was named to that committee in July 1965. Also in 1965, he was chosen advisor to the United States delegation to the Manila
Conference establishing the Asian Development Bank
.
An advocate for small businesses and agricultural interests, Cooper opposed an April 1965 bill that expanded the powers of the Federal Trade Commission
to regulate cigarette advertising. In March 1966, he proposed an amendment to a mine safety bill supported by the United Mine Workers of America that would have nullified provisions of the bill if they were not shown to contribute to the safety of small mines, but his amendment was defeated.
, Cooper opposed escalating U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
. As early as April 1964, Cooper was urging President Johnson to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the tensions in Southeast Asia. He questioned Southeast Asia's strategic importance to the U.S. and expressed concerns about the feasibility of deploying the U.S. military on a global scale. On March 25, 1965, he joined New York Senator Jacob Javits in a call for President Johnson to begin negotiations for a settlement between North Vietnam
and South Vietnam
without imposing preconditions on the negotiations. Later in the day, he introduced resolutions calling for Secretary of State Dean Rusk
and Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara
to brief the full Senate on recent developments in Vietnam.
In January 1966, Cooper accompanied Secretary of State Rusk and Ambassador W. Averell Harriman
on an official visit to Philippine President
Ferdinand Marcos
as part of a widely publicized "peace drive". This visit, along with visits to South Vietnam in December 1965 and January 1966, reinforced Cooper's opposition to military operations in Southeast Asia. In a meeting with President Johnson on January 26, 1966, he again urged the president to forego his announced intentions to resume bombing missions in North Vietnam and negotiate a settlement instead. Johnson was non-committal, and that afternoon, Cooper returned to the Senate floor, urgently trying to convince the legislators that negotiation was preferable to escalation, even when it meant negotiating with the Viet Cong fighters in South Vietnam, which he believed was necessary to achieve peace. Cooper advocated for a three to five year cease fire, enforced by the United Nations, followed by national elections as prescribed by the 1954 Geneva Convention
. Ultimately, Johnson did not heed Cooper's plea and resumed U.S. bombing missions in North Vietnam.
In 1966, Cooper again won re-election over John Y. Brown, Sr. by 217,000 votes, breaking his own record of largest victory margin for a Kentucky senatorial candidate, and carrying the vote of 110 of Kentucky's 120 counties. In the lead-up to the 1968 Republican presidential primary, he threw his support behind New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, saying that Americans would only support a candidate who took a clear position on Vietnam. Rockefeller had laid out a plan for reversing the Americanization of the war, while other Republican candidates tried to remain non-specific about how they would handle it. As Rockefeller's candidacy faded, Cooper encouraged his colleague, Kentucky Senator Thruston B. Morton, to seek the presidency, but Morton declined. The nomination – and eventually, the presidency – went to Republican Richard M. Nixon.
As a delegate to the U.N. General Assembly in 1968, Cooper strongly denounced the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
. He also supported Montana
Senator Mike Mansfield
's proposal to bring the matter of the Vietnam War before the United Nations. Returning to the Senate in 1969, he joined Alaska Senator Ernest Gruening
and Oregon
Senator Wayne Morse in protesting restrictions on orderly protests at the United States Capitol
.
In the Senate, Cooper helped lead the opposition to the development and deployment of anti-ballistic missile
s (ABMs), which had put him at odds with many in his party, including President Nixon. Cooper had long been an opponent of ABMs, which he believed could intensify a worldwide nuclear arms race. On August 6, 1969, a vote to suspend funding of the development of ABMs failed in the Senate by a vote of 50–51, with Vice-President Spiro Agnew
casting the tie-breaking vote. After this defeat, Cooper and Michigan
Senator Philip Hart
co-sponsored the Cooper-Hart Amendment that would have allowed funding for research and development of ABMs, but banned deployment of a U.S. ABM system. The measure failed by three votes but increased congressional scrutiny of the Defense Department
budget, leading to a reduction in funding and hastening Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
with the Soviets. Cooper served as an advisor to President Nixon during the events leading up to the talks.
Throughout 1969 and 1970, Cooper and Senator Frank Church
co-sponsored amendments, known as the Cooper-Church Amendment
s, aimed at curbing further escalation of the Vietnam War. Congressional approval of one of these amendments on December 15, 1969, de-funded the use of U.S. troops in Laos
and Thailand
. Cooper had wanted to include a restriction on forces entering Cambodia
as well, but Mike Mansfield, who helped Cooper write the amendment, feared that Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk
, who was officially neutral in the conflict, might be offended. When Sihanouk was deposed in 1970
, Cambodia's new leader, Lon Nol
, appealed to President Nixon for help in stabilizing his rule. Nixon agreed to send troops to Cambodia, despite protests from Cooper and others that this violated his stated goal of de-escalation in the region. Cooper and Church then drafted another amendment to de-fund U.S. operations in Cambodia; after negotiations with Nixon that continued funding until July 1970 so that the troops already in the country could be evacuated, the amendment passed 58–37. The House of Representatives later stripped the amendment from the legislation to which it was attached, and it did not go into effect. The amendment was nevertheless hailed by The Washington Post
as "the first time in our history that Congress has attempted to limit the deployment of American troops in the course of an ongoing war." The fight over the Cooper-Church Amendments took its toll on Cooper's health, and he was briefly hospitalized to regain his strength. In 1971, Church, Mansfield, and George Aiken
convinced Cooper to help them write an amendment to end U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia altogether, but ultimately, the measure did not have the support to pass and was abandoned.
Seventy-one years of age and becoming increasingly deaf, Cooper announced to the Kentucky Press Association on January 21, 1972 that he would not seek re-election to his Senate seat. Over all his terms in the Senate, he had served longer in that body than any other Kentuckian except Alben Barkley. After an aggressive North Vietnamese offensive against the South in March 1972 intensified fighting in the region once again, the lame duck
Cooper decided to make one more attempt to end the war. Without advance notice, Cooper addressed a nearly empty Senate chamber on July 27, 1972, proposing an amendment to a military assistance bill that would unconditionallly end funding for all U.S. military operations in Indochina in four months. The measure, which had no co-sponsors, stunned Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
and provoked heated debate in the Senate. Massachusetts
Senator Edward Brooke
saved the amendment from almost certain demise by adding a provision that all American prisoners of war
be returned prior to the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The revised amendment passed 62–33, whereupon Nixon decided to sacrifice the entire military assistance bill. At Nixon's insistence, the Senate defeated the amended bill 48–42. Disappointed, Cooper nevertheless proclaimed, "I feel purged inside. I’ve felt strongly about this for a long time. Now it's in the hands of the President. He's the only person who can do anything about ending the war now."
. In 1972, he was chosen as the commencement speaker at Centre College, where he'd served as a trustee since 1961. At the ceremony, he became the first recipient of the Isaac Shelby Award, named for two-time Kentucky governor Isaac Shelby
, who was chair of the college's first board of trustees. In 1973, Cooper resisted an attempt to name a federal building in his honor. Upon the completion of the dam that formed Laurel River Lake
in 1977, Congress proposed naming the dam and lake after Cooper, but again, he declined. He was pleased, however, that the Somerset school system chose to name a program to teach and reinforce leadership skills the John Sherman Cooper Leadership Institute.
In April 1974, President Nixon announced that he would appoint Cooper to be the U.S. Ambassador to East Germany
, but during the final negotiations between the countries for the U.S. to establish an embassy in the country, Nixon resigned the presidency. His successor, Gerald Ford
, officially appointed Cooper to the ambassadorship, and he took leave from Covington & Burling to accept it. He arrived in East Germany in December 1974 and served as ambassador until October 1976. After returning to the U.S., he resumed his work at Covington & Burling. In his last act of public service, he again served as an alternate delegate to the U.N. General Assembly in 1981.
Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown, Jr.
, son of Cooper's former opponent in the senatorial elections of 1946 and 1966, awarded Cooper the Governor's Distinguished Service Medallion in 1983. Later that year, Senators Walter "Dee" Huddleston
of Kentucky and Howard Baker
of Tennessee
introduced a bill to honor Cooper by renaming the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
to the Cooper National Recreation Area; Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers
sponsored a parallel measure in the House. As a senator, Cooper had been instrumental in securing congressional approval for the creation of Big South Fork. Opposition to the measure developed in both Kentucky and Tennessee – the recreation area spans the two states – and the proposal was eventually dropped at Cooper's request.
In 1985, Cooper became the third-ever recipient of the Oxford Cup, an award recognizing outstanding past members of Beta Theta Pi. Also in 1985, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Cumberland College (now the University of the Cumberlands
) in Williamsburg, Kentucky
. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Centre College in 1987. A non-partisan group co-chaired by former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Larry Forgy
raised $60,000 to commission two sculptures of Cooper. A life-sized bronze bust
of Cooper sculpted by John Tuska
was installed at the Kentucky State Capitol
in 1987. The other sculpture, a life-sized bronze statue crafted by Barney Bright
, was placed in Fountain Square in Somerset.
Cooper retired from the practice of law in 1989. In June 1990, Cooper was honored with a gala screening of Gentleman From Kentucky, a Kentucky Educational Television
documentary about his life, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
in Washington D.C. On February 21, 1991, Cooper died of heart failure in retirement home in Washington, D.C. He was preceded in death by his second wife, Lorraine, who had died on February 3, 1985. On February 26, 1991, Kentucky's two senators – Wendell H. Ford
and Mitch McConnell
– gave speeches on the Senate floor praising Cooper, and the Senate adjourned in Cooper's memory. Cooper was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
in Arlington, Virginia.
Due to his extensive support of rural electrification as a senator, the East Kentucky RECC was renamed the John Sherman Cooper Power Station
in his honor. In 1999, the Lexington Herald-Leader
named Cooper one of the most influential Kentuckians of the 20th century. In 2000, Eastern Kentucky University
's Center for Kentucky History and Politics established the annual John Sherman Cooper Award for Outstanding Public Service in Kentucky.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. He served three non-consecutive, partial terms in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
before being elected to two full terms in 1960 and 1966. He also served as U.S Ambassador to India
United States Ambassador to India
American Embassy New Delhi was established Nov 1, 1946, with George R. Merrell as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.-Chiefs of Mission to India:-See also:*Embassy of India, Washington, D.C.*India – United States relations*Foreign relations of India...
from 1955 to 1956 and U.S. Ambassador to East Germany
United States Ambassador to East Germany
The United States had diplomatic relations with the nation of East Germany from 1974 to 1990.Listed below are the head U.S. diplomatic agents to East Germany, their diplomatic rank, and the effective start and end of their service in East Germany.Listed on a separate Wikipedia page are the head U.S...
from 1974 to 1976. He was the first Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to be popularly elected to more than one term as a senator from Kentucky, and in both 1960 and 1966, he set records for the largest victory margin for a Kentucky senatorial candidate from either party.
Cooper's first political service was as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
Kentucky House of Representatives
The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...
from 1927 to 1929. In 1930, he was elected county judge of Pulaski County
Pulaski County, Kentucky
Pulaski County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 63,063 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Somerset6. The county is named for Count Kazimierz Pułaski. Most of the county is a prohibition or dry county...
. After a failed gubernatorial bid in 1939, he joined the Army in 1942. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he earned the Bronze Star Medal
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
for reorganizing the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n judicial system after the allied victory in Europe
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
. While still in Germany, he was elected circuit judge
Kentucky Circuit Courts
The Kentucky Circuit Courts are the state courts of general jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Kentucky.The Circuit Courts are trial courts with original jurisdiction in cases involving capital offenses, felonies, land disputes, contested probates of wills, and civil lawsuits in disputes with an...
for Kentucky's 28th district. He returned home to accept the judgeship, which he held for less than a year before resigning to seek election to A. B. "Happy" Chandler
Happy Chandler
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and...
's vacated seat in the U.S. Senate. He won the seat by 41,823 votes, the largest victory margin by any Republican for any office in Kentucky at the time.
During his first term in the Senate, Cooper voted with the majority of his party just 51% of the time. He was defeated in his re-election bid in 1948, after which he accepted an appointment by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
and served as a special assistant to Secretary of State Dean Acheson
Dean Acheson
Dean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War...
during the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Cooper was again elected to a partial term the Senate in 1952. The popular Cooper was likely to be re-elected in 1954 until the Democrats nominated former Vice-President Alben W. Barkley
Alben W. Barkley
Alben William Barkley was an American politician in the Democratic Party who served as the 35th Vice President of the United States , under President Harry S. Truman....
. Cooper lost the general election and was appointed Ambassador to India by President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
in 1955. Cooper gained the confidence of Indian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
and dramatically improved relations between the U.S. and the recently-independent state of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, helping rebuff Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
hopes of expanding Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
in Asia. Barkley died in 1956, and Eisenhower requested that Cooper seek Barkley's open seat. Cooper reluctantly acquiesced and was elected to serve out the rest of Barkley's term.
In 1960, Cooper was re-elected, securing his first full, six-year term in the Senate. Newly-elected President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
– Cooper's former Senate colleague – chose Cooper to conduct a secret fact-finding mission to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. Following Kennedy's assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
in November 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
appointed Cooper to the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
to investigate the assassination. Cooper soon became an outspoken opponent of Johnson's decision to escalate U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, consistently advocating for negotiation with the North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
ese instead. After Cooper's re-election in 1966, he worked with Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
Democrat Frank Church
Frank Church
Frank Forrester Church III was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981....
on a series of amendments
Cooper-Church amendment
The Cooper-Church Amendment was introduced in the United States Senate during the Vietnam War. The proposal of the amendment was the first time that Congress had restricted the deployment of troops during a war against the wishes of the president....
designed to de-fund further U.S. military operations in the region. These amendments were hailed as the first serious attempt by Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to curb presidential authority over military operations during an ongoing war. Aging and increasingly deaf, Cooper did not seek re-election in 1972. His last acts of public service were as Ambassador to East Germany from 1974 to 1976 and as an alternate delegate to the United Nations in 1981. He died in a Washington, D.C. retirement home on February 21, 1991 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
.
Early life
John Sherman Cooper was born August 23, 1901, in Somerset, KentuckySomerset, Kentucky
The major demographic differences between the city and the micropolitan area relate to income, housing composition and age. The micropolitan area, as compared to the incorporated city, is more suburban in flavor and has a significantly younger housing stock, a higher income, and contains most of...
. He was the second child and first son of the seven children born to John Sherman and Helen Gertrude (Tartar) Cooper. The Cooper family had been prominent in the Somerset area since brothers Malachi and Edward Cooper migrated from South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
along the Wilderness Trail and through the Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap is a pass through the Cumberland Mountains region of the Appalachian Mountains, also known as the Cumberland Water Gap, at the juncture of the U.S. states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia...
shortly after Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
. His father's parents were staunch Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
s who were active in the anti-slavery movement
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
in the nineteenth century, and the elder John Sherman Cooper (called "Sherman") was named after the Apostle John
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, John the Apostle, John the Apostle, (Aramaic Yoħanna, (c. 6 - c. 100) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James, another of the Twelve Apostles...
and William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
, a hero of the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The family was very active in local politics; six of Cooper's ancestors, including his father, were elected county judges in Pulaski County
Pulaski County, Kentucky
Pulaski County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 63,063 in the 2010 Census. Its county seat is Somerset6. The county is named for Count Kazimierz Pułaski. Most of the county is a prohibition or dry county...
, and two had been circuit judges
Kentucky Circuit Courts
The Kentucky Circuit Courts are the state courts of general jurisdiction in the U.S. state of Kentucky.The Circuit Courts are trial courts with original jurisdiction in cases involving capital offenses, felonies, land disputes, contested probates of wills, and civil lawsuits in disputes with an...
. Sherman Cooper engaged in numerous successful business ventures and was known as the wealthiest man in Somerset. At the time of John Sherman Cooper's birth, his father was serving as collector of internal revenue in Kentucky's 8th congressional district
Kentucky's 8th congressional district
United States House of Representatives, Kentucky District 8 was a district of the United States Congress in Kentucky. It was lost to redistricting in 1963. Its last Representative was Eugene Siler.-List of representatives:-References:*...
, a position to which he had been appointed by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
.
During his youth, Cooper worked delivering newspapers and in railroad yards and his father's coal mines in Harlan County
Harlan County, Kentucky
Harlan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1819. As of 2000, the population was 33,200. Its county seat is Harlan...
. Despite having formerly served as county school superintendent, Cooper's father had a low opinion of the public schools, and until he was in the fifth grade, Cooper was privately tutored by a neighbor. While his father was away on business in Texas, his mother sent him to sixth grade at the public school, which he attended thereafter. At Somerset High School
Somerset High School (Kentucky)
Somerset High School is a public high school in Somerset, Kentucky. The school mission statement "is to empower all students academically, socially, and personally to be lifelong learners capable of thinking, solving problems, and serving as responsible citizens ready to meet the challenges of...
, he played both basketball and football. After the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Cooper joined an informal military training unit at the high school. Two of the school's instructors organized the boys into two companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
, but Cooper, who was given the rank of captain, later recalled that "they taught us how to march and that's about all." During his senior year, Cooper served as class president and class poet. In 1918, he graduated second in his high school class and was chosen to give the commencement speech
Commencement speech
A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...
.
After graduation, Cooper matriculated at Centre College
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...
in Danville, Kentucky
Danville, Kentucky
Danville is a city in and the county seat of Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 16,218 at the 2010 census.Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Boyle and Lincoln counties....
. While at Centre, Cooper was accepted into the Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
fraternity. He also played defensive end
Defensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
on the Praying Colonels' football team
Centre Praying Colonels football
The Centre Praying Colonels football team represents Centre College in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III competition as a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference . Despite the school's small size , the football team has historically had success and possesses a...
. Cooper was a letterman on the team, playing alongside football notables Bo McMillan, Red Roberts
Red Roberts
Charles Emory "Red" Roberts was a Major League Baseball player. Roberts played for the Washington Senators in . He batted and threw right-handed.He was born in Carrollton, Georgia and died in Atlanta, Georgia....
, Matty Bell
Matty Bell
Madison A. "Matty" Bell was an American football player, coach of football and basketball, and college athletics administrator in the United States...
, and Red Weaver
Red Weaver
-Coaching career:Weaver was the head football coach for the West Virginia Tech Golden Bears located in Montgomery, West Virginia. He held that position for the 1921 season...
. Another member of the team, John Y. Brown, Sr.
John Y. Brown, Sr.
John Young Brown, Sr. was a state representative for nearly three decades, serving one term as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives and as majority floor leader during the term of Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. A Democrat, he was elected to one term in the U.S...
, would later become one of Cooper's political rivals. Coached by Charley Moran
Charley Moran
Charles Barthell Moran , nicknamed "Uncle Charley," was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional football coach.-Early life:...
, the team was undefeated in four games in the 1918 season, which was shortened by an outbreak of the Spanish flu.
Although Centre was known as one of Kentucky's foremost colleges in academic quality, Cooper's father wanted him to broaden his education, and after one year at Centre, Cooper transferred to Yale College
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
. At Yale, he was a classmate of his future U.S. Senate colleague, Stuart Symington
Stuart Symington
William Stuart Symington was a businessman and political figure from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force from 1947 to 1950 and was a Democratic United States Senator from Missouri from 1953 to 1976.-Education and business career:...
. Cooper was active in many extracurricular activities at Yale, including the Sophomore German Committee, the Junior Prom
Prom
In the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...
enade Committee, the Student Council
Student council
Student council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...
, the Class Day Committee, the Southern Club, the University Club, and Beta Theta Pi. A member of the Undergraduate Athletic Association, he played football and basketball, becoming the first person in Yale history to be named captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
of the basketball team in both his junior and senior years. In his senior year, he was accepted into the Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones
Skull and Bones is an undergraduate senior or secret society at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. It is a traditional peer society to Scroll and Key and Wolf's Head, as the three senior class 'landed societies' at Yale....
society but regretted not being accepted into Phi Beta Kappa. Upon graduation, he was voted most popular and most likely to succeed in his class.
Cooper earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale in 1923 and enrolled at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
later that year. During the summer break of 1924, he returned to Kentucky, where his father, dying of Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
, told him that he would soon become the head of the family, and that most of the family's resources had been lost in the economic recession of the early 1920s. Cooper returned to Harvard after his father's death, but soon discovered that the could not simultaneously pursue a law degree and manage his family's affairs. He was admitted to the bar
Admission to the bar in the United States
In the United States, admission to the bar is the granting of permission by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. Each U.S. state and similar jurisdiction has its own court system and sets its own rules for bar admission , which can lead to different admission...
by examination in 1928 and opened a legal practice in Somerset. Over the next 20 years, he sold his father's remaining assets, paid off the family debts, and financed a college education for his six brothers and sisters.
Early political career
After being urged into politics by his uncle, Judge Roscoe Tarter, Cooper ran unopposed for a seat in the Kentucky House of RepresentativesKentucky House of Representatives
The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...
as a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in 1927. As a member of the House, he was one of only three Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to oppose Republican Governor
Governor of Kentucky
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
Flem D. Sampson
Flem D. Sampson
Flemon Davis "Flem" Sampson was the 42nd Governor of Kentucky, serving from 1927 to 1931. He graduated from Valparaiso University in 1894, and opened a law practice in Barbourville, Kentucky. He formed a political alliance with future congressmen Caleb Powers and John Robsion, both prominent...
's unsuccessful attempt to politicize the state department of health; the measure failed by a single vote. Cooper supported the governor's plan to provide free textbooks for the state's school children and sponsored legislation to prohibit judges from issuing injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
s to end labor strikes, although the latter bill did not pass.
In 1929, Cooper declared his candidacy for county judge of Pulaski County. His opponent, the incumbent, was the president of Somerset Bank and was formerly the law partner of Cooper's father. Cooper won the election, however, beginning the first of his eight years as county judge. During his service, he was required by law to enforce eviction
Eviction
How you doing???? Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction may also be known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among other terms...
notices, but often helped those he evicted find other housing or gave them money himself, earning him the nickname "the poor man's judge". He reportedly became so depressed by the poverty and suffering of his constituents during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
that he had a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
and took a leave of absence
Leave of absence
Leave of absence is a term used to describe a period of time that one is to be away from his/her primary job, while maintaining the status of employee...
to seek psychiatric treatment.
Cooper served on the board of trustees for the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
from 1935 to 1946. In 1939, he sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination. As a result of a mandatory primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
law passed in 1935, the Republican nominee would not be chosen by a nominating convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
, as was typical for the party. Cooper garnered only 36% of the vote in the primary, losing the nomination to Lexington
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
circuit court judge and former Congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
King Swope
King Swope
King Swope was a United States Representative from Kentucky. He was born in Danville, Kentucky. He attended the common schools and was graduated from Centre College, Danville, Kentucky in 1914 and from the law department of the University of Kentucky at Lexington in 1916...
.
Service in World War II
Even though at 41 years old, he was well above the draft ageConscription in the United States
Conscription in the United States has been employed several times, usually during war but also during the nominal peace of the Cold War...
, in 1942 Cooper enlisted for service in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
in World War II. He turned down an immediately-offered officer's commission and chose to enlist as a private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
. After basic training, he enrolled in Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School (U.S. Army)
The United States Army's Officer Candidate School , located at Fort Benning, Georgia, provides training to become a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army...
at the Fort Custer Training Center
Fort Custer Training Center
Fort Custer Training Center, often known simply as Fort Custer, is a federally-owned and state-operated Michigan Army National Guard training facility, but is also used by other branches of the armed forces and armed forces from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio...
in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. He studied military government
Military government
Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...
and graduated second in his class of 111 students. In 1943, he was commissioned a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
and assigned to the 15th Corps of General George Patton's Third Army
United States Army Central
United States Army Central is an Army Service Component Command of the United States Army and is also dual-hatted as the "United States Third Army". It is the Army Component of U.S...
as a courier
Courier
A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...
in the military police. Under Patton, Cooper served in France, Luxembourg, and Germany. Patton ordered all of his unit, including Cooper, to tour the Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
just hours after its liberation.
Following the cessation of hostilities in the war, Cooper oversaw the reorganization of the 239 courts in the German state of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, replacing all the Nazi officials, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
. Among the judges installed by Cooper were Wilhelm Hoegner
Wilhelm Hoegner
Wilhelm Hoegner was the second Bavarian prime minister after World War II and father of the Bavarian constitution. He has been the only Social Democrat to hold this office....
, future Minister-President
Minister-President
A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
of Bavaria, and Ludwig Erhard
Ludwig Erhard
Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard was a German politician affiliated with the CDU and Chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is notable for his leading role in German postwar economic reform and economic recovery , particularly in his role as Minister of Economics under Chancellor Konrad Adenauer...
, the future Chancellor of Germany
Chancellor of Germany
The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...
. Cooper also served as a legal advisor for the 300,000 displaced persons in his unit's occupation zone seeking repatriation after being brought to Germany as slaves by the Nazis. Under the terms of the agreement reached at the Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
, all displaced Russian nationals were to be returned to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, but Soviet negotiators decided that the agreement did not apply to non-Russian spouses and children of the nationals. Cooper brought this to the attention of General Patton, who rescinded the repatriation order in his unit's occupation zone. He received a citation from the Third Army's military government section for his action.
In 1944, while he was still in the Army, Cooper married Evelyn Pfaff, a registered nurse. Cooper was elected without opposition as circuit judge of Kentucky's twenty-eighth judicial district in 1945, despite still being in Germany and not campaigning for the office. He was discharged from the Army with the rank of captain in February 1946 and returned to Kentucky to assume the judgeship to which he had been elected.
First term in the Senate and early diplomatic career
Cooper's judicial district included his native Pulaski County, as well as RockcastleRockcastle County, Kentucky
Rockcastle County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 16,582. Its county seat is Mt. Vernon. The county is named for the Rockcastle River which runs through it...
, Wayne
Wayne County, Kentucky
Wayne County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 19,923. Its county seat is Monticello. The county was named for Gen. Anthony Wayne. It is a prohibition or dry county.-History:...
and Clinton
Clinton County, Kentucky
Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1836. As of 2000, the population was 9,634. Its name is in honor of the seventh Governor of New York State, DeWitt Clinton. Its county seat is Albany, Kentucky, and it is a prohibition or dry county...
counties. During his tenure, blacks were allowed to serve on trial juries in the district for the first time. Of the first 16 opinions he issued during his time on the bench, 15 were upheld by the Kentucky Court of Appeals
Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky....
, Kentucky's court of last resort at the time.
Cooper resigned his judgeship in November 1946 to seek the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat vacated when A. B. "Happy" Chandler
Happy Chandler
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, Sr. was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and...
resigned to accept the position of Commissioner of Baseball
Commissioner of Baseball
The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball and its associated minor leagues. Under the direction of the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts...
. Cooper's opponent, former Congressman and Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives John Y. Brown, Sr.
John Y. Brown, Sr.
John Young Brown, Sr. was a state representative for nearly three decades, serving one term as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives and as majority floor leader during the term of Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. A Democrat, he was elected to one term in the U.S...
, was better known and widely believed to be the favorite in the race. However, Brown had alienated Chandler's supporters in the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
during a hotly-contested senatorial primary between Brown and Chandler in 1942, and this group worked against his election in 1946. Further, the Louisville Courier-Journal opposed Brown because of his attacks on former Senator J. C. W. Beckham
J. C. W. Beckham
John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham was the 35th Governor of Kentucky and a United States Senator from Kentucky...
and Judge Robert Worth Bingham
Robert Worth Bingham
Robert Worth Bingham was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He attended the University of North Carolina and University of Virginia but did not graduate. He moved to Louisville in the 1890s and received a law degree from the University of...
, who were heads of a powerful political machine
Political machine
A political machine is a political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters and businesses , who receive rewards for their efforts...
in Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. With these two factors working against Brown, Cooper won the election to fill Chandler's unexpired term by 41,823 votes, the largest victory margin by any Republican for any office in Kentucky at the time. His victory marked only the third time in Kentucky's history that a Republican had been popularly elected to the Senate. The move to Washington, D.C. proved to be too much for Cooper's already strained marriage. In 1947, he filed for divorce, charging abandonment
Abandonment
The term abandonment has a multitude of uses, legal and extra-legal. This "signpost article" provides a guide to the various legal and quasi-legal uses of the word and includes links to articles that deal with each of the distinct concepts at greater length...
.
Cooper described himself as "a truly terrible public speaker" and rarely made addresses from the Senate floor. He was known as an independent Republican during his career in the Senate. In the first roll-call vote
Recorded vote
A recorded vote is a vote in which the names of those voting for and against a motion may be recorded.In many deliberative bodies , questions may be decided by voice vote, but the voice vote does not allow one to determine at a later date which members voted for and against the motion...
of his career, he opposed transferring investigatory powers to Republican Owen Brewster
Owen Brewster
Ralph Owen Brewster was an American politician from Maine. Brewster, a Republican, was solidly conservative...
's special War Investigating Committee
Senate War Investigating Committee
The Senate War Investigating Committee was formed by R. Owen Brewster in 1947 to investigate contracts delivered to Hughes Aircraft for the Hughes XF-11 and Hughes H-4 Hercules...
. His second vote, directing that proceeds from the sale of war surplus
Military surplus
Military surplus are goods, usually matériel, that are sold or otherwise disposed of when no longer needed by the military. Entrepreneurs often buy these goods and resell them at surplus stores. Military surplus rarely includes weapons or munitions, though they are occasionally found in such stores...
material be used to pay off war debts, also went against the majority of the Republican caucus, prompting Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
Republican Robert A. Taft to ask him "Are you a Republican or a Democrat? When are you going to start voting with us?" Cooper responded, "If you'll pardon me, I was sent here to represent my constituents, and I intend to vote as I think best."
A few days after being sworn in, Cooper co-sponsored his first piece of legislation, a bill to provide federal aid for education. The bill passed the Senate, but not the House. Cooper was made chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Roads, and helped draft a bill authorized $900 million in federal funds to states for highway construction. In 1948, he sponsored a bill to provide price support
Price support
In economics, a price support may be either a subsidy or a price control, both with the intended effect of keeping the market price of a good higher than the competitive equilibrium level....
for burley tobacco at 90 percent of parity. He insisted on an amendment to the War Claims Act of 1948
War Claims Act of 1948
The War Claims Act of 1948, or Public Law 80-896 is a United States federal law passed by the 80th United States Congress on July 3, 1948. It created the War Claims Commission to adjudicate claims and pay out compensation to American prisoners of war and civilian internees of World War II...
that benefits to veterans injured as prisoners
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
of the Germans and Japanese during World War II be paid immediately using enemy assets. He also co-sponsored legislation allowing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the Nazis to enter the United States legally. In the area of organized labor, he opposed bans on industrywide collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
and on the establishment of closed shop
Closed shop
A closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times in order to remain employed....
s. He voted against putting union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
welfare funds under government control, but helped to pass an amendment forbidding compulsory union membership
Closed shop
A closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times in order to remain employed....
for workers.
Cooper continued his independence from his party throughout his term, vocally opposing Republican plans to cut taxes despite record national budget deficits and resisted the party's efforts to reduce funding for the Marshall Plan
Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948...
to rebuild Europe in the aftermath of the war. He worked with fellow Kentuckian Alben Barkley and Oregon Senator Wayne Morse
Wayne Morse
Wayne Lyman Morse was a politician and attorney from Oregon, United States, known for his proclivity for opposing his parties' leadership, and specifically for his opposition to the Vietnam War on constitutional grounds....
to undermine Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
enacted by the states and remove obstacles to suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
for minorities. He also co-sponsored a bill to create the Medicare
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
system, although it was defeated at the time. At the end of his partial term in the Senate, he had voted with the Republicans just 51% of the time – the lowest average of any member of the party. Despite his party independence, Cooper headed the Kentucky delegation to the 1948 Republican National Convention
1948 Republican National Convention
The 1948 Republican National Convention was held at the Municipal Auditorium, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from June 21 to 25, 1948.New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey had paved the way to win the Republican presidential nomination in the primary elections, where he had beaten Minnesota Governor...
. He supported Arthur Vandenberg for president, but Thomas E. Dewey ultimately received the party's nomination. Cooper himself was mentioned as a possible candidate for vice-president, but ultimately did not receive the nomination and sought re-election to his Senate seat instead. Also in 1948, Centre College awarded Cooper an honorary
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
Doctor of Laws degree.
Cooper was opposed in his re-election bid by Democratic Congressman Virgil M. Chapman, an ally of Earle C. Clements
Earle C. Clements
Earle Chester Clements was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and was its 47th Governor, serving from 1947 to 1950...
, who had been elected governor in 1947. As one of only a few Democrats who had voted in favor of the Taft-Hartley Act
Taft-Hartley Act
The Labor–Management Relations Act is a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still effective, was sponsored by Senator Robert Taft and Representative Fred A. Hartley, Jr. and became law by overriding U.S. President Harry S...
, Chapman had lost the support of organized labor, a key constituency for the Democrats. The Democratic-leaning Louisville Times
The Louisville Times
The Louisville Times was a newspaper that was published in Louisville, Kentucky. It was founded in 1884 as the afternoon counterpart to The Courier-Journal, the dominant morning newspaper in Louisville and the commonwealth of Kentucky for many years. The two newspapers published a combined edition ...
endorsed Cooper, but the presence of Kentucky's favorite son, Alben Barkley, on the ballot as Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
's running mate in the 1948 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1948
The United States presidential election of 1948 is considered by most historians as the greatest election upset in American history. Virtually every prediction indicated that incumbent President Harry S. Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas E. Dewey. Truman won, overcoming a three-way...
ensured a strong Democratic turnout in the state. Both Barkley and Clements stressed party unity during the campaign, and although Cooper polled much better than the Republican presidential ticket, he ultimately lost to Chapman in the general election by 24,480 votes.
Following his defeat, Cooper resumed the practice of law in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Gardner, Morison and Rogers. In 1949, President Truman appointed Cooper as one of five delegates to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
. He was an alternate delegate to that body in 1950 and 1951. Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Dean Acheson
Dean Acheson
Dean Gooderham Acheson was an American statesman and lawyer. As United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman from 1949 to 1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War...
chose Cooper as his advisor to meetings that created North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and at meetings of the NATO Council of Ministers in London in May 1950 and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in December 1950. Political historian Glenn Finch observed that, while Cooper was well-qualified for his duties at the U.N. and NATO, his presence abroad also made him less available to campaign for the Senate seat vacated by Barkley's elevation to the vice-presidency. Speculation was raised that Clements, who won Barkley's old seat in a special election in 1950, may have influenced Truman and Acheson to make the appointments.
Second term in the Senate
Cooper's supporters believed he would again seek the governorship of Kentucky or be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in the early 1950s; some even formed a committee to elect Cooper president. Cooper considered running for governor in 1951, but when Senator Chapman was killed in an automobile accident on March 8, 1951, he decided to make another run for the Senate against Thomas R. Underwood
Thomas R. Underwood
Thomas Rust Underwood served Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives and in the United States Senate.Underwood was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky...
, Governor Lawrence Wetherby
Lawrence Wetherby
Lawerence Winchester Wetherby was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. After graduating from the University of Louisville, he rose through the judicial system of Jefferson County and was elected lieutenant governor in 1947, serving under Governor Earle C. Clements...
's appointee to fill the vacancy. Underwood was considered a heavy favorite in the race. Some Republicans faulted Cooper for taking an appointment from Democratic president Harry Truman. Both the Louisville Times and the Louisville Courier-Journal recanted their statements in 1950 that Cooper should seek election to the Senate in 1954; they now feared that the election of a Republican would allow that party to organize the Senate, giving key committee chairmanships to isolationists opposed to continued U.S. involvement in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. Nevertheless, Cooper defeated Underwood by 29,000 votes in the election to serve out the remainder of Chapman's term. His victory marked the first time in Kentucky's history that a Republican had been elected to the Senate more than once.
Cooper was named to the Senate Committee on Labor, Education and Public Welfare
United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
The United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions generally considers matters relating to health, education, labor, and pensions...
and chaired its education and labor subcommittees. He sponsored a bill authorizing public works projects along the Big Sandy River
Big Sandy River (Ohio River)
The Big Sandy River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long, in western West Virginia and northeastern Kentucky in the United States. The river forms part of the boundary between the two states along its entire course...
, including the Tug and Levisa forks. He also supported the reconstruction of the locks and dams
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
along the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and the construction of locks, dams, and reservoirs in the Green River
Green River (Kentucky)
The Green River is a tributary of the Ohio River that rises in Lincoln County in south-central Kentucky. Tributaries of the Green River include the Barren River, the Nolin River, the Pond River and the Rough River...
Valley. He opposed the Dixon-Yates contract
Dixon-Yates contract
The Dixon-Yates contract was a 1954 contract between the AEC and two private energy companies, Middle South Utilities and the Southern Company to supply 600,000 kilowatts of power to the AEC for their Tennessee plant...
, which would have paid a private company to construct a new power station to generate power for the city of Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, calling instead for authorization for the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
to issue bonds to finance the construction of new power stations. He supported a comprehensive program benefiting the coal industry and co-sponsored a bill to extending public library services to rural areas.
Cooper continued to be an independent voice in the Senate. During the Red Scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
, he was critical of attempts to permit illegal wiretap
Telephone tapping
Telephone tapping is the monitoring of telephone and Internet conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on the telephone line...
evidence in federal courts and attempts to reduce the protections against self-incrimination granted by the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
. Nevertheless, he refused to support stripping Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, the leading figure in the Red Scare, of his major Senate committee chairmanships, cautioning that "Many of those who bitterly oppose Senator McCarthy call for the same tactics that they charge him with." He was the only Republican to oppose the Bricker Amendment
Bricker Amendment
The Bricker Amendment is the collective name of a series of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution considered by the United States Senate in the 1950s. These amendments would have placed restrictions on the scope and ratification of treaties and executive agreements entered into by...
, which would have limited the president's treaty-making power, because he concluded that the issues addressed by the amendment were not sufficient to warrant a change to the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. He also opposed the Submerged Lands Act
Submerged Lands Act
The Submerged Lands Act of 1953 is a U.S. federal law that grants states title to all submerged navigable lands within their boundaries. This includes navigable water ways, such as rivers, as well as marine waters within the state's boundaries—generally three geographical miles from the coastline....
and the Mexican Farm Labor bill, both of which were supported by the Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
administration. He denounced Eisenhower's appointment of Albert M. Cole
Albert M. Cole
Albert McDonald Cole was a U.S. Representative from Kansas.Born in Moberly, Missouri, Cole moved to Topeka, Kansas, in 1909. He attended the grade schools of Topeka, Kansas, Sabetha High School, and Washburn University, in Topeka. He earned his LL.B. at University of Chicago Law School in 1925...
, an open opponent of public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
, as Federal Housing Administrator
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...
and opposed many of the agricultural reforms proposed by Eisenhower's Agriculture Secretary, Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.-Biography:Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of...
. Again, his independence did little to diminish his stature in the party. In 1954, he was named to the Senate Republican Policy Committee.
Cooper again sought re-election in 1954. Democrats first considered Governor Wetherby as his opponent, but Wetherby's candidacy would have drawn a primary challenger from the Happy Chandler faction of the Democratic Party, possibly leading to a party split and Cooper's re-election. Instead, party leaders convinced outgoing Vice-President Barkley, now 77 years old, to run for the seat in order to ensure party unity. There were few policy differences between Barkley and Cooper, who had been deemed the most liberal Republican in the Senate by Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action is an American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA works for social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research and supporting progressive candidates.-History:...
. During the campaign, Cooper was featured on the cover of Time magazine on July 5, 1954. Cooper appealed to women voters who were concerned about the increasingly tense situation in Southeast Asia
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
and to black voters because of his stands in favor of civil rights. He also claimed that he would be a less partisan Senator than Barkley. Barkley's personal popularity carried him to a 71,000-vote victory, however. Glenn Finch opined that "Barkley was unbeatable in his own state, and it is probable that no other candidate could have defeated Cooper."
Ambassador to India
In 1955, President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
nominated Cooper as U.S. Ambassador to India and Nepal
United States Ambassador to India
American Embassy New Delhi was established Nov 1, 1946, with George R. Merrell as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.-Chiefs of Mission to India:-See also:*Embassy of India, Washington, D.C.*India – United States relations*Foreign relations of India...
. During his time as a delegate for the United Nations, Cooper had met Indian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
and established a cordial working relationship with the Indian delegation, including Nehru's sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit was an Indian diplomat and politician, the sister of Jawaharlal Nehru, the aunt of Indira Gandhi and the great-aunt of Rajiv Gandhi, all of whom served as Prime Minister of India.In 1921 she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, who died on 14 January 1944...
. The Indians had been impressed with Cooper and the Indian government had expressed their desire that Cooper serve as their ambassador from the U.S. Cooper initially rejected the offer of the Indian ambassadorship from Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
but was convinced to accept it by a personal request from President Eisenhower. The Senate confirmed Cooper's nomination on February 4, 1955.
India had only become an independent nation in 1948, and it was considered a potential bulwark against Communism in Asia. U.S.-India relations were strained, however, because of India's recognition of Communist China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, its opposition to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was an international organization for collective defense in Southeast Asia created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, or Manila Pact, signed in September 1954 in Manila, Philippines. The formal institution of SEATO was established on 19 February...
(SEATO), and its resistance to foreign interference in Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
. U.S. News and World Report described the ambassadorship as "one of the most difficult and delicate in all the diplomatic world".
Cooper married Lorraine Rowan Shelvin on March 17, 1955, in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, just ten days before leaving for India. Twice divorced, Shelvin was the daughter of a wealthy California real estate developer, step-daughter of Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
official Prince Domenico Orsini, and a well-known socialite. She was fluent in three languages and also understood Russian. The two had dated for much of the 1950s, but Cooper was hesitant to marry because he had doubts about moving into Shelvin's elaborate Georgetown home. (While in Washington, the unmarried Cooper permanently resided in the Dodge House Hotel.) The move to India removed this barrier, and Secretary of State Dulles encouraged Cooper to marry her before leaving so that the U.S. embassy in New Delhi might have a proper hostess. On April 4, 1955, the couple stopped in England on their way to India to visit with Louis Mountbatten
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, the last Governor-General of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
prior to India's achieving its independence. Their discussions about the situation of the Indian people was part of the scant preparation Cooper received before arriving there.
Cooper began his service as ambassador by developing a close personal friendship with Prime Minister Nehru. Nehru's respect and admiration for Cooper soon became widely known. Cooper labored to help officials in Washington, D.C. understand that India's reluctance to align with either the West or the Communists in China and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was their way of exercising their newly-won independence. At the same time, he defended the U.S. military buildup after World War II, its involvement in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, and its membership in mutual security pacts like NATO and SEATO as self-defense measures, not aggressive actions by the U.S. government, as the Indians widely perceived them. Cooper condemned the Eisenhower administration's decision to sell weapons to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, which was resented by the Indians, but also felt that the Indian government took some political positions without regard to their moral implications. By late 1955, the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
reported that Indo-American relations had "improved to a degree not thought possible six months ago".
In a joint communiqué dated December 2, 1955, U.S. Secretary of State Dulles and Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Foreign Minister Paulo Cunha condemned statements made by Soviet Premier
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
Nikolai Bulganin
Nikolai Bulganin
Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin was a prominent Soviet politician, who served as Minister of Defense and Premier of the Soviet Union . The Bulganin beard is named after him.-Early career:...
and Soviet Party Chairman Nikita Krushchev during an eighteen-day tour of India. Of particular interest was the communiqué's reference to "Portuguese provinces in the Far East". This phrase referred to Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, a Portuguese colony in western India. Although most European nations with holdings near India had granted them to the new independent nation in 1947, Portugal refused to surrender Goa, and the region had become a source of conflict between the two nations. The joint communiqué seemed to indicate U.S. recognition of Portuguese sovereignty in Goa, which undercut Cooper's assurances to the Indians of U.S. neutrality in the matter. Cooper himself did not know about the communiqué until he read an account of it in the Indian media and was therefore unprepared to offer an explanation for it when asked by the Indian Foreign Secretary. Cooper's cable to Washington, D.C. about the matter was reported to have been "bitter", although the contents of the cable have not been released.
The Dulles-Cuhna communiqué touched off anti-American demonstrations in many parts of India. On December 6, Dulles held a news conference during which he reaffirmed U.S. neutrality on the Goa issue, but did not recant claims of Portuguese sovereignty over the region. Prime Minister Nehru announced his intent to file a formal protest to the United States over the communiqué and to address the Indian Parliament
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
about the matter. In the interim, Cooper secured a meeting with Nehru and forestalled both actions. Cooper became even more upset with Dulles when Dulles authorized withholding $10 million of a $50 million aid package to India; Cooper protested the withholding, and Dulles decided to pay the full amount.
Throughout the early part of 1956, Cooper strongly advocated that the U.S. respect Indian nonalignment and increase economic aid to the country. In August 1956, Congress approved a financial aid package for India that included the largest sale of surplus agricultural products by the United States to any country to that time in history. Cooper's persistence in requesting such aid was critical in getting the package approved, as it was opposed by many administration officials, including John B. Hollister
John B. Hollister
John Baker Hollister was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.Born in Cincinnati, Hollister attended the local schools and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He graduated from Yale University in 1911, and next studied at the University of Munich, Germany for a year. He graduated from Harvard...
, Herbert Hoover, Jr.
Herbert Hoover, Jr.
Herbert Charles Hoover was the son of President of the United States Herbert Hoover; a successful engineer and businessman; a special envoy of the American government; and served as United States Under Secretary of State from 1954 to 1957.-Early years, 1903—1928:Herbert Hoover, Jr...
, and George M. Humphrey
George M. Humphrey
George Magoffin Humphrey was an American lawyer, businessman and Cabinet secretary.Raised in Edenbronx, Humphrey received both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Michigan. After practicing law in his hometown for five years with his father's farm, he accepted a position with...
.
Later service in the Senate
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Srivastava Shastri was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.-Early life:...
in 1966, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
in 1984.
Because Barkley's death occurred after the filing deadline for the November elections, the Democratic State Central Committee had to choose a nominee for the now-open seat. After unsuccessfully attempting to find a compromise candidate that both the Clements and Chandler factions could support, they chose Lawrence Wetherby, whose term as governor had recently expired. Chandler, now serving his second term as governor, was angered by the choice of Wetherby, and most members of his faction either gave Wetherby lukewarm support or outright supported Cooper instead. This, combined with Cooper's personal popularity, led to his victory over Wetherby by 65,000 votes.
Upon his return to the Senate in 1957, Cooper was assigned to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It is charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. The Foreign Relations Committee is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid programs as...
. In 1959, he challenged Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
Senator Everett Dirksen
Everett Dirksen
Everett McKinley Dirksen was an American politician of the Republican Party. He represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate...
to become the Republican floor leader
Floor Leader
Floor Leaders are leaders of their political parties in each of the houses of the legislature.- Senate :In the United States Senate, they are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokesmen for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and...
in the Senate, but lost by four votes. In a 1960 poll of fifty journalists conducted by Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine, Cooper was named the ablest Republican member of the Senate. He helped author and co-sponsored the National Defense Education Act
National Defense Education Act
The National Defense Education Act , signed into law on September 2, 1958, provided funding to United States education institutions at all levels. The act authorized funding for four years, increasing funding per year: for example, funding increased on eight program titles from 183 million dollars...
. Together with Senator Jennings Randolph
Jennings Randolph
Jennings Randolph was an American politician from West Virginia. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was the last surviving member of the United States Congress to have served during the first 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration.-Early life and career:Randolph was born in...
, he sponsored the Appalachian Regional Development Act, which was designed to address the prevalent poverty in Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
. He succeeded in gaining more state and local control over the anti-poverty group Volunteers in Service to America
Volunteers in Service to America
VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America is an anti-poverty program created by Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as the domestic version of the Peace Corps. Initially, the program increased employment opportunities for conscientious people who felt they could contribute tangibly to...
. He was a vigorous opponent of measures designed to weaken the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
.
In 1960, Democrats nominated former governor Keen Johnson
Keen Johnson
Keen Johnson was the 45th Governor of Kentucky, serving from 1939 to 1943. He remains the only journalist to have served in that capacity. After serving in World War I, Johnson purchased and edited the Elizabethtown Mirror...
, then an executive with Reynolds Metals
Reynolds Metals
Reynolds Group Holdings is an American packaging company with its roots in the Reynolds Metals Company, was the second largest aluminum company in the United States, and the third largest in the world...
, to oppose Cooper's re-election bid. Cooper had the support of organized labor and benefitted from a large segment of Kentuckians who voted for Republican Richard M. Nixon over Democrat John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
as a reaction against Kennedy's Catholicism in the 1960 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1960
The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th American presidential election, held on November 8, 1960, for the term beginning January 20, 1961, and ending January 20, 1965. The incumbent president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible to run again. The Republican Party...
. Cooper ultimately defeated Johnson by 199,257 votes, a record victory margin for a Kentucky senatorial candidate of either party.
Shortly after his election as president in 1960, Kennedy chose Cooper to conduct a then-secret mission to Moscow and New Delhi to assess the attitudes of the Soviet government toward the new administration. Kennedy and Cooper had served together on the Senate Labor Committee and maintained a social friendship. On the mission, Cooper discovered that the Soviets disliked Kennedy and Nixon equally. Overall, Cooper's report to Kennedy regarding the potential for harmonious relations with the Soviets was extremely pessimistic. After meeting with Secretary Khruschev, Kennedy confirmed to Cooper that his report had been correct and confessed that he wished he'd taken it even more seriously. Cooper supported Kennedy's decision to resume nuclear weapons testing after the Soviets resumed their testing in March 1962, but he urged Kennedy to negotiate an agreement with the Soviets if possible.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
appointed Cooper to the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
, which was charged with investigating Kennedy's assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
in 1963. As one of three Republicans on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee
United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration is responsible for the rules of the United States Senate, with administration of congressional buildings, and with credentials and qualifications of members of the Senate, including responsibility for dealing with contested elections.The committee...
, he was involved with the investigation of Johnson aide Bobby Baker
Bobby Baker
Robert Gene Baker was a political adviser to Lyndon B. Johnson, and an organizer for the Democratic Party.-Life:Baker was the son of the Pickens postmaster and lived in a house on Hampton Avenue...
in 1964, which he decried as "a whitewash
Whitewash (censorship)
To whitewash is a metaphor meaning to gloss over or cover up vices, crimes or scandals or to exonerate by means of a perfunctory investigation or through biased presentation of data. It is especially used in the context of corporations, governments or other organizations.- Etymology :Its first...
" when the committee blocked further investigation. He proposed the establishment of a Senate Select Committee on Standards and Conduct
United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics
The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics is a select committee of the United States Senate charged with dealing with matters related to senatorial ethics. It is also commonly referred to as the Senate Ethics Committee...
in July 1964 and was named to that committee in July 1965. Also in 1965, he was chosen advisor to the United States delegation to the Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
Conference establishing the Asian Development Bank
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia...
.
An advocate for small businesses and agricultural interests, Cooper opposed an April 1965 bill that expanded the powers of the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
to regulate cigarette advertising. In March 1966, he proposed an amendment to a mine safety bill supported by the United Mine Workers of America that would have nullified provisions of the bill if they were not shown to contribute to the safety of small mines, but his amendment was defeated.
Opposition to the Vietnam War
Although he voted in favor of the Gulf of Tonkin ResolutionGulf of Tonkin Resolution
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was a joint resolution which the United States Congress passed on August 10, 1964 in response to a sea battle between the North Vietnamese Navy's Torpedo Squadron 10135 and the destroyer on August 2 and an alleged second naval engagement between North Vietnamese boats...
, Cooper opposed escalating U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. As early as April 1964, Cooper was urging President Johnson to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the tensions in Southeast Asia. He questioned Southeast Asia's strategic importance to the U.S. and expressed concerns about the feasibility of deploying the U.S. military on a global scale. On March 25, 1965, he joined New York Senator Jacob Javits in a call for President Johnson to begin negotiations for a settlement between North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
and South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
without imposing preconditions on the negotiations. Later in the day, he introduced resolutions calling for Secretary of State Dean Rusk
Dean Rusk
David Dean Rusk was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk is the second-longest serving U.S...
and Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense
The Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
to brief the full Senate on recent developments in Vietnam.
In January 1966, Cooper accompanied Secretary of State Rusk and Ambassador W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
on an official visit to Philippine President
President of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
as part of a widely publicized "peace drive". This visit, along with visits to South Vietnam in December 1965 and January 1966, reinforced Cooper's opposition to military operations in Southeast Asia. In a meeting with President Johnson on January 26, 1966, he again urged the president to forego his announced intentions to resume bombing missions in North Vietnam and negotiate a settlement instead. Johnson was non-committal, and that afternoon, Cooper returned to the Senate floor, urgently trying to convince the legislators that negotiation was preferable to escalation, even when it meant negotiating with the Viet Cong fighters in South Vietnam, which he believed was necessary to achieve peace. Cooper advocated for a three to five year cease fire, enforced by the United Nations, followed by national elections as prescribed by the 1954 Geneva Convention
Geneva Conference (1954)
The Geneva Conference was a conference which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, whose purpose was to attempt to find a way to unify Korea and discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina...
. Ultimately, Johnson did not heed Cooper's plea and resumed U.S. bombing missions in North Vietnam.
In 1966, Cooper again won re-election over John Y. Brown, Sr. by 217,000 votes, breaking his own record of largest victory margin for a Kentucky senatorial candidate, and carrying the vote of 110 of Kentucky's 120 counties. In the lead-up to the 1968 Republican presidential primary, he threw his support behind New York Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, saying that Americans would only support a candidate who took a clear position on Vietnam. Rockefeller had laid out a plan for reversing the Americanization of the war, while other Republican candidates tried to remain non-specific about how they would handle it. As Rockefeller's candidacy faded, Cooper encouraged his colleague, Kentucky Senator Thruston B. Morton, to seek the presidency, but Morton declined. The nomination – and eventually, the presidency – went to Republican Richard M. Nixon.
As a delegate to the U.N. General Assembly in 1968, Cooper strongly denounced the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
On the night of 20–21 August 1968, the Soviet Union and her main satellite states in the Warsaw Pact – Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic , Hungary and Poland – invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in order to halt Alexander Dubček's Prague Spring political liberalization...
. He also supported Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
Senator Mike Mansfield
Mike Mansfield
Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years...
's proposal to bring the matter of the Vietnam War before the United Nations. Returning to the Senate in 1969, he joined Alaska Senator Ernest Gruening
Ernest Gruening
Ernest Henry Gruening was an American journalist and Democrat who was the Governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953, and a United States Senator from Alaska from 1959 until 1969.-Early life:...
and Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
Senator Wayne Morse in protesting restrictions on orderly protests at the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
.
In the Senate, Cooper helped lead the opposition to the development and deployment of anti-ballistic missile
Anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
s (ABMs), which had put him at odds with many in his party, including President Nixon. Cooper had long been an opponent of ABMs, which he believed could intensify a worldwide nuclear arms race. On August 6, 1969, a vote to suspend funding of the development of ABMs failed in the Senate by a vote of 50–51, with Vice-President Spiro Agnew
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
casting the tie-breaking vote. After this defeat, Cooper and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
Senator Philip Hart
Philip Hart
Philip Aloysius Hart was a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan from 1959 until 1976. He was nicknamed the Conscience of the Senate.-Early years:...
co-sponsored the Cooper-Hart Amendment that would have allowed funding for research and development of ABMs, but banned deployment of a U.S. ABM system. The measure failed by three votes but increased congressional scrutiny of the Defense Department
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
budget, leading to a reduction in funding and hastening Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty refers to two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union—the Cold War superpowers—on the issue of armament control. There were two rounds of talks and agreements: SALT I and SALT...
with the Soviets. Cooper served as an advisor to President Nixon during the events leading up to the talks.
Frank Church
Frank Forrester Church III was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1957 to 1981....
co-sponsored amendments, known as the Cooper-Church Amendment
Cooper-Church amendment
The Cooper-Church Amendment was introduced in the United States Senate during the Vietnam War. The proposal of the amendment was the first time that Congress had restricted the deployment of troops during a war against the wishes of the president....
s, aimed at curbing further escalation of the Vietnam War. Congressional approval of one of these amendments on December 15, 1969, de-funded the use of U.S. troops in Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Cooper had wanted to include a restriction on forces entering Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
as well, but Mike Mansfield, who helped Cooper write the amendment, feared that Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...
, who was officially neutral in the conflict, might be offended. When Sihanouk was deposed in 1970
Cambodian coup of 1970
The Cambodian coup of 1970 refers to the removal of the Cambodian Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, after a vote in the National Assembly on 18 March 1970. Emergency powers were subsequently invoked by the Prime Minister Lon Nol, who became effective head of state...
, Cambodia's new leader, Lon Nol
Lon Nol
Lon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...
, appealed to President Nixon for help in stabilizing his rule. Nixon agreed to send troops to Cambodia, despite protests from Cooper and others that this violated his stated goal of de-escalation in the region. Cooper and Church then drafted another amendment to de-fund U.S. operations in Cambodia; after negotiations with Nixon that continued funding until July 1970 so that the troops already in the country could be evacuated, the amendment passed 58–37. The House of Representatives later stripped the amendment from the legislation to which it was attached, and it did not go into effect. The amendment was nevertheless hailed by The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
as "the first time in our history that Congress has attempted to limit the deployment of American troops in the course of an ongoing war." The fight over the Cooper-Church Amendments took its toll on Cooper's health, and he was briefly hospitalized to regain his strength. In 1971, Church, Mansfield, and George Aiken
George Aiken
George David Aiken was an American politician from Vermont. A Republican, he served as the 64th Governor of Vermont from 1937 to 1941 and as a U.S. Senator from 1941 to 1975...
convinced Cooper to help them write an amendment to end U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia altogether, but ultimately, the measure did not have the support to pass and was abandoned.
Seventy-one years of age and becoming increasingly deaf, Cooper announced to the Kentucky Press Association on January 21, 1972 that he would not seek re-election to his Senate seat. Over all his terms in the Senate, he had served longer in that body than any other Kentuckian except Alben Barkley. After an aggressive North Vietnamese offensive against the South in March 1972 intensified fighting in the region once again, the lame duck
Lame duck
Lame duck can refer to:*Lame duck , an elected official who is approaching the end of his or her tenure, and especially an official whose successor has already been elected....
Cooper decided to make one more attempt to end the war. Without advance notice, Cooper addressed a nearly empty Senate chamber on July 27, 1972, proposing an amendment to a military assistance bill that would unconditionallly end funding for all U.S. military operations in Indochina in four months. The measure, which had no co-sponsors, stunned Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
and provoked heated debate in the Senate. Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Senator Edward Brooke
Edward Brooke
Edward William Brooke, III is an American politician and was elected to the United States Senate as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 60.7%–38.7%...
saved the amendment from almost certain demise by adding a provision that all American prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
be returned prior to the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The revised amendment passed 62–33, whereupon Nixon decided to sacrifice the entire military assistance bill. At Nixon's insistence, the Senate defeated the amended bill 48–42. Disappointed, Cooper nevertheless proclaimed, "I feel purged inside. I’ve felt strongly about this for a long time. Now it's in the hands of the President. He's the only person who can do anything about ending the war now."
Later career, death, and legacy
After the expiration of his term, Cooper took over the "Dean Acheson chair" at the prestigious Washington, D.C. law firm of Covington & BurlingCovington & Burling
Covington & Burling LLP is an international law firm with offices in Beijing, Brussels, London, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Washington, DC. The firm advises multinational corporations on significant transactional, litigation, regulatory, and public policy matters...
. In 1972, he was chosen as the commencement speaker at Centre College, where he'd served as a trustee since 1961. At the ceremony, he became the first recipient of the Isaac Shelby Award, named for two-time Kentucky governor Isaac Shelby
Isaac Shelby
Isaac Shelby was the first and fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky and served in the state legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. He was also a soldier in Lord Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812...
, who was chair of the college's first board of trustees. In 1973, Cooper resisted an attempt to name a federal building in his honor. Upon the completion of the dam that formed Laurel River Lake
Laurel River Lake
Laurel River Lake, located west of Corbin, Kentucky, in the USA, is an reservoir built in 1977 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Laurel River, a tributary of the Cumberland River, in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The lake covers parts of Laurel and Whitley counties.The 282 foot high...
in 1977, Congress proposed naming the dam and lake after Cooper, but again, he declined. He was pleased, however, that the Somerset school system chose to name a program to teach and reinforce leadership skills the John Sherman Cooper Leadership Institute.
In April 1974, President Nixon announced that he would appoint Cooper to be the U.S. Ambassador to East Germany
United States Ambassador to East Germany
The United States had diplomatic relations with the nation of East Germany from 1974 to 1990.Listed below are the head U.S. diplomatic agents to East Germany, their diplomatic rank, and the effective start and end of their service in East Germany.Listed on a separate Wikipedia page are the head U.S...
, but during the final negotiations between the countries for the U.S. to establish an embassy in the country, Nixon resigned the presidency. His successor, Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, officially appointed Cooper to the ambassadorship, and he took leave from Covington & Burling to accept it. He arrived in East Germany in December 1974 and served as ambassador until October 1976. After returning to the U.S., he resumed his work at Covington & Burling. In his last act of public service, he again served as an alternate delegate to the U.N. General Assembly in 1981.
Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown, Jr.
John Y. Brown, Jr.
This article is about one of four John Young Browns, from Kentucky, that have served political office. For others see: John Young Brown ...
, son of Cooper's former opponent in the senatorial elections of 1946 and 1966, awarded Cooper the Governor's Distinguished Service Medallion in 1983. Later that year, Senators Walter "Dee" Huddleston
Walter Huddleston
Walter Darlington "Dee" Huddleston is a retired American politician. He is a Democrat from the state of Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the United States Senate from 1973 until 1985....
of Kentucky and Howard Baker
Howard Baker
Howard Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...
of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
introduced a bill to honor Cooper by renaming the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area preserves the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River and its tributaries in northeastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky...
to the Cooper National Recreation Area; Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers
Hal Rogers
Harold Dallas "Hal" Rogers is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education, and early career:...
sponsored a parallel measure in the House. As a senator, Cooper had been instrumental in securing congressional approval for the creation of Big South Fork. Opposition to the measure developed in both Kentucky and Tennessee – the recreation area spans the two states – and the proposal was eventually dropped at Cooper's request.
In 1985, Cooper became the third-ever recipient of the Oxford Cup, an award recognizing outstanding past members of Beta Theta Pi. Also in 1985, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Cumberland College (now the University of the Cumberlands
University of the Cumberlands
University of the Cumberlands is a private, liberal arts college located in Williamsburg, Kentucky, with an enrollment of approximately 3,200 students...
) in Williamsburg, Kentucky
Williamsburg, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,143 people, 1,928 households, and 1,127 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,102.5 people per square mile . There were 2,118 housing units at an average density of 454.0 per square mile...
. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Centre College in 1987. A non-partisan group co-chaired by former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Larry Forgy
Larry Forgy
Lawrence E. Forgy, known as Larry Forgy , is a Republican politician and former candidate for office from Lexington, Kentucky....
raised $60,000 to commission two sculptures of Cooper. A life-sized bronze bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of Cooper sculpted by John Tuska
John Tuska
John Tuska was an American artist and educator. He was best known as a sculptor and potter, but also as a draftsman, painter, designer and photographer....
was installed at the Kentucky State Capitol
Kentucky State Capitol
The Kentucky State Capitol is located in Frankfort and is the house of the three branches of the state government of the Commonwealth of Kentucky...
in 1987. The other sculpture, a life-sized bronze statue crafted by Barney Bright
Barney Bright
Jeptha Barnard Bright, Jr , better known as Barney Bright, born in Shelby County, Kentucky and was a sculptor from Louisville, Kentucky is best known for his work on the Louisville Clock.-Biography:...
, was placed in Fountain Square in Somerset.
Cooper retired from the practice of law in 1989. In June 1990, Cooper was honored with a gala screening of Gentleman From Kentucky, a Kentucky Educational Television
Kentucky Educational Television
Kentucky Educational Television, also known as KET: The Kentucky Network, is Kentucky's non-commercial educational public television state network...
documentary about his life, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
in Washington D.C. On February 21, 1991, Cooper died of heart failure in retirement home in Washington, D.C. He was preceded in death by his second wife, Lorraine, who had died on February 3, 1985. On February 26, 1991, Kentucky's two senators – Wendell H. Ford
Wendell H. Ford
Wendell Hampton Ford is a retired politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. He served for twenty-four years in the U.S. Senate and was the 53rd Governor of Kentucky. He was the first person to be successively elected lieutenant governor, governor, and U.S. senator in Kentucky history...
and Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky and the Republican Minority Leader.- Early life, education, and military service :...
– gave speeches on the Senate floor praising Cooper, and the Senate adjourned in Cooper's memory. Cooper was buried in Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
in Arlington, Virginia.
Due to his extensive support of rural electrification as a senator, the East Kentucky RECC was renamed the John Sherman Cooper Power Station
John Sherman Cooper Power Station
The John Sherman Cooper Power Station is a coal-fired power plant owned and operated by the East Kentucky Cooperative near Somerset, Kentucky. It is actually closest to the smaller city of Burnside...
in his honor. In 1999, the Lexington Herald-Leader
Lexington Herald-Leader
The Lexington Herald-Leader is a newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and based in the U.S. city of Lexington, Kentucky. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the Herald-Leaders paid circulation is the second largest in the Commonwealth of Kentucky...
named Cooper one of the most influential Kentuckians of the 20th century. In 2000, Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University
Eastern Kentucky University, commonly referred to as Eastern or by the acronym EKU by local residents, is an undergraduate and graduate teaching and research institution located in Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.A.. EKU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
's Center for Kentucky History and Politics established the annual John Sherman Cooper Award for Outstanding Public Service in Kentucky.