William Cohen
U.S. Secretary of Defense
Live Web cast January 10, 2001 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT

Listen to the event

When President Bill Clinton chose Republican Senator William S. Cohen as the 20th U.S. Secretary of Defense, he wasn't looking for someone who gets lost in a crowd. Cohen -- recognized in Congress as an independent thinker -- never has. Early in his congressional career, he broke ranks with his party on then President Richard Nixon's impeachment; a decade later he was one of a few Republicans to condemn then President Ronald Reagan's involvement in the Iran-Contra affair. He still ruffles feather from time to time: At his last meeting with NATO defense ministers in December 2000, he stunned his counterparts with a blunt warning that the Atlantic Alliance could become a "relic of the past" if the European Union's new military arm competed with NATO rather than giving the alliance new capabilities.

Before becoming secretary of defense in January 1997, Cohen served three terms in the U.S. Senate representing the state of Maine and three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's second congressional district. He served on the Senate Armed Services and Governmental Affairs committees for almost two decades and also served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1983-91 and 1995-97. A member of the Committee on Aging from 1975-97, his concern about issues facing elderly Amercians prompted him to write "Easy Prey: The Fleecing of America's Senior Citizens and How to Stop It" in 1995.

Cohen has also served on the board of directors of the nonprofit Council on Foreign Relations and worked with numerous think tanks and universities on issues including Department of Defense reorganization, NATO enlargement and control of chemical weapons.

Cohen was born on August 28, 1940, in Bangor, Maine, the son of Irish and Russian immigrants. His father was a baker. Cohen received a B.A. in Latin from Bowdoin College in 1962 and a LL.B. cum laude from Boston University Law School in 1965. His life has been nothing if not eclectic: He first attracted public attention as a star basketball player in high school and college, then taught business administration at the college level. He went into local politics as city councilor and then mayor of his hometown (1969-72). He has written or co-authored nine books, including two volumes of poetry, three novels and four works of non-fiction.

Cohen is married to Janet Langhart, president of Langhart Communications. He has two grown sons.

Related Websites:
The Department of Defense