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 William S. Cohen was sworn in
as the nation's 20th Secretary of Defense on January 24, 1997. He
previously served three terms in the U.S. Senate for the State of Maine
(1979-1997) and three terms in the House of Representatives from Maine's
Second Congressional District (1973-1979).
Secretary Cohen was born August, 1940, in Bangor, ME. He attended Bangor
High School, graduating in 1958. He received his B.A. in Latin from Bowdoin
College in 1962, and his LL.B. cum laude from Boston University Law School
in 1965.
Secretary Cohen served on the Senate Armed Services and Governmental
Affairs Committees from 1979-97. He was a member of the Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence from 1983-91 and 1995-97, and he served as Vice Chairman
from 1987-91.
An influential voice on defense and international security issues,
Secretary Cohen played a leading role in crafting the Goldwater-Nichols
Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. He was the Senate sponsor of the GI
Bill of 1984 and the subsequent enhancements to this landmark legislation.
Secretary Cohen's efforts led to the creation of the Rapid Deployment
Force, which later developed into the Central Command, and the maritime
pre-positioning program, both of which were key to the success of the Gulf
War. He also co-authored the Intelligence Oversight Reform Act of 1991, as
well as legislation designed to overhaul U.S. counterintelligence efforts
and defend against foreign political and industrial espionage.
Secretary Cohen served on the board of directors of the Council on
Foreign Relations from 1989 to 1997, and in 1996, he chaired the Council's
Middle East Study Group. He has also chaired and served on numerous study
groups and committees at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies, School for Advanced International Studies, and Brookings Institute
on issues ranging from DoD reorganization, NATO enlargement, and chemical
weapons arms control. Since 1985, Secretary Cohen has led the American
delegation of senior Executive Branch officials and Members of Congress to
the Munich Conference on Security Policy, which brings together senior
officials from NATO and Partnership for Peace countries. He also led America
delegations to the American-Arab Dialogue in Cairo and the Pacific Dialogue
in Kuala Lumpur, regional conferences on security and economic issues.
In 1974, he was selected by TIME magazine as of one of America's 200
future leaders. The U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce named him one of the
Ten Outstanding Young Men in America in 1975. In 1975, the Boston
University Law School honored him with its prestigious "Young Lawyer's
Chair," and in 1976, the Boston University Alumni Association presented
him with its Award for Distinguished Public Service. In 1980, he received
the "Vanguard" award from the Non-Commissioned Officers
Association for his work on behalf of military personnel and in 1983, the
same association honored him with the L. Mendel Rivers Award. In 1996, he
received the U.S. Special Operations Command Medal.
http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/secdef_histories/index.html
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