William S. Cohen

Bill Cohen

20th United States Secretary of Defense
From: January 24, 1997 – January 20, 2001
President | Bill Clinton
Predecessor | William Perry
Successor | Donald Rumsfeld
Former U.S. Senator from Maine
From: January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1997
Predecessor | Bill Hathaway
Successor | Susan Collins
Former U.S. Representative from Maine's 2nd Congressional District
From: January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Predecessor | Bill Hathaway
Successor | Olympia J. Snowe
Former Mayor of Bangor, Maine
From: 1971–1972
Predecessor | ???
Successor | ???
Information

Party  | Republican

Spouse(s)  | Diana Dunn (div.)
Janet Langhart

Religion  | Unitarian Universalist (former Christian, raised Jewish)

William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940, age 82) is a liberal[1] RINO who served as the United States Secretary of Defense under the presidency of Bill Clinton, previously being the senior senator from Maine, having preceded Susan Collins in the latter position.

## Contents

* 1 Early life and education
* 2 United States House of Representatives
* 2.1 1972 election
* 2.2 Nixon impeachment
* 3 United States Senate
* 3.1 1978 election
* 3.2 Tenure
* 4 United States Secretary of Defense
* 4.1 Nomination/confirmation
* 4.2 Tenure
* 4.2.1 Defense budget
* 4.2.2 Foreign policy
* 4.2.3 Domestic military issues
* 5 Political views
* 5.1 On Donald Trump
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Early life and education[edit]

Cohen was born in Bangor, Maine to a family with mixed religious views, with his father being a Jewish Russian immigrant and his mother an Irish Protestant. Following his father's wishes very much earlier in life, he attended Hebrew school, but had later rejected Judaism and became a Christian.

In 1958, Cohen entered Bowdoin College and excelled as an athlete in basketball. He later attended Boston University's law school to seek a law degree after having received a bachelor's degree. He later entered a law firm in Bangor in 1965 after passing the Maine statewide bar exams that year, eventually becoming a partner in the firm.

## United States House of Representatives[edit]

### 1972 election[edit]

After Democrat William Hathaway, the then-representative from Maine's 2nd district, announced that he would not seek re-election in 1972, Cohen ran for the seat and won by 9% of the vote.[2]

### Nixon impeachment[edit]

During his first term in Congress, Cohen was assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. When the Watergate scandal emerged and the committee was ordered to investigate into the situation, Cohen broke with his party line and voted along with Democrats in favor of a motion to inform Richard Nixon that the latter had failed to comply with subpoenas properly. He later voted in favor of impeaching Nixon.

## United States Senate[edit]

### 1978 election[edit]

Cohen easily won election to the U.S. Senate in 1978,[3][4] defeating then-incumbent William Hathaway after attacking the latter in addition to the Carter administration for poor foreign policy decisions.

### Tenure[edit]

Cohen sponsored the Ethics in Government Act Amendments of 1982, also known as S.2059.[5] The bill was introduced on February 3, 1982 and eventually signed exactly eleven months later.

In April 1985, Cohen introduced the Congressional Reports Elimination Act of 1986, legislation that would amend standards for agency reports sent to the U.S. Congress.[6]

Sen. Cohen was the sponsor of the Office of Government Ethics Authorization Act of 1996, a bill that would extend authorized appropriations for an additional seven years for the Office of Government Ethics.[7]

Cohen's last successful sponsored bill was S.2153, which designated the U.S. Post Office building in Brewer, Maine as the “Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Post Office Building”.[8]

## United States Secretary of Defense[edit]

### Nomination/confirmation[edit]

After announcing retirement from the Senate in 1996, Cohen expected a return to his private life until then-president Bill Clinton announced on December 5, 1996 the nomination of the former to the position of Secretary of Defense. During the hearings, Cohen expressed a certain degree of criticism for the Clinton administration's foreign policy, in addition to supporting the pro-globalist expanding of NATO. He was soon confirmed unanimously by the Senate on January 22, 1997, and sworn in two days later.

### Tenure[edit]

#### Defense budget[edit]

Regarding the duty of a budget provision, Cohen requested just over $250 billion and advocated for the top priorities of people, readiness, and modernization. While presenting the 1998 FY budget, he asserted that he would take no involvement with the QDR. Cohen also rolled back the purchases of jet fighters and recommended the closing of two U.S. military bases.

#### Foreign policy[edit]

Cohen's foreign policy was marked through globalist though sound decisions that included the vast improvising of the readiness and modernization of the U.S. military in addition to the reducing of tensions between America and other nations via NATO agreements.

#### Domestic military issues[edit]

Among Cohen's notable accomplishments as Secretary of Defense include his leadership in combating sexual assault in the U.S. military. After a sergeant had abused authority positions to sexually harass female recruits, Cohen established a panel that sought to minimize the mingling of men and women in military training (a setback to what was sought by the left-wing agenda of the ERA). In December 1997, the panel recommended the separating of the genders for the first twelve weeks of training. In addition, Cohen's lead in toughening the prosecution of sex offenders in the military has lead to the conviction and punishing of several guilty members in the Army and Navy.

## Political views[edit]

A RINO, Cohen has generally been regarded overall as a moderate liberal.

### On Donald Trump[edit]

Cohen announced in late 2016 that, similar to George H. W. Bush, he would vote for the corrupt leftist Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump.[9]

Cohen supported the Trump impeachment ever since May 2019,[10] later claiming in November that year that President Trump committed “an impeachable act”,[11] even ridiculously comparing the Trump administration to Nineteen Eighty-Four.[12]

## See also[edit]

* Olympia J. Snowe, former RINO senator from Maine
* Susan Collins, current RINO senior senator from Maine

## References[edit]

1. ↑ William Cohen - GovTrack
2. ↑ ME District 2. Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
3. ↑ 1978electionpdf
4. ↑ ME US Senate. Our Campaigns. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
5. ↑ S. 2059 (97th): Ethics in Government Act Amendments of 1982 - GovTrack
6. ↑ Congressional Reports Elimination Act of 1986 - GovTrack
7. ↑ S. 699 (104th): Office of Government Ethics Authorization Act of 1996 - GovTrack
8. ↑ S. 2153 (104th): A bill to designate the United States Post Office building located in Brewer, Maine, as the “Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Post Office Building”, and for other purposes. - GovTrack
9. ↑ Kyle Griffin on Twitter: "Fmr GOP Senator..."
10. ↑ #NeverTrumper William Cohen Wants President Trump Impeached Because He’s a Meanie
11. ↑ Ex-defense secretary: Trump committed 'impeachable act'
12. ↑ GOP ex-lawmaker who served during Watergate: Trump sounds like a dictator

## External links[edit]

* William S. Cohen > Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense
* William Sebastian Cohen - encyclopedia.com
* William Cohen - The Cohen Group