- Prentice Cooper
William Prentice Cooper (1895–1969) was an American
politician and Governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945.Life and career
A native of
Bedford County, Tennessee , he attendedVanderbilt University and thenHarvard University . After service inWorld War I , he opened a law practice in 1921, and served in theTennessee House of Representatives in 1923 before being electeddistrict attorney . In 1936 he was elected to theTennessee State Senate . He attracted the favorable attention of Memphis political bossE.H. Crump , who had experienced a falling-out with his one-time protege, GovernorGordon Browning . With Crump's help, Cooper achieved the Democratic nomination forgovernor in August, 1938. At this point inTennessee history, the Democratic nomination for statewide office was considered "tantamount to election", as it was in much of the South in that era.Cooper was Tennessee's wartime governor during
World War II , which brought about the basis for the greatest social change in the history of the state up to that point. Large facilities were built, includingFort Campbell , most of which is in Tennessee despite its Kentucky address, some POW camps, and the Oak Ridge facilities where theatomic bomb was developed. Of course, the state government under Cooper played only a supporting role in these activities, which were under the direction of the federal government's War Department.Cooper was also an advocate for
education , and during his tenure the state began to provide textbooks for students in the lower grades without requiring that their parents purchase them, a major change. He was also dedicated to higher teacher pay, but very limited in how he could provide for this due to the state's very limited tax base. He was also dedicated topublic health , and during his tenure a statewide network oftuberculosis hospital s was built which served the state for about three decades.Cooper served three consecutive two-year terms. During his tenure, the state debt was greatly reduced. Staying active in public service, Cooper was later U.S. ambassador to
Peru . He served as a delegate to the limited stateconstitution al convention in 1953, which proposed several major changes which were subsequently adopted by the voters, including, perhaps most notably, the extension of the gubernatorial term from two to four years.Encouraged by pro-segregation interests, Cooper challenged freshman U.S.
Senator Albert Gore, Sr. in the 1958 Democratic primary, but lost handily (with Gore taking about 60% of the vote). From then on, he was regarded as something of a Democratic elder statesman. "Prentice Cooper State Forest", atop Suck Creek Mountain near Chattanooga is named in his honor, as are buildings at virtually all of Tennessee state universities.Cooper, a bachelor while in office, later married. His son
Jim Cooper , born in 1954, has served on two separate occasions in theUnited States House of Representatives . In his first race in 1982, he successfully ran against Cissy Baker, the daughter of then-Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker , in a race featuring the offspring of two famous Tennessee political figures. After 6 terms, he made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1994 for the open seat thatAl Gore, Jr. had vacated with his election to theVice-Presidency in 1992, although unlike his father, he managed to win his party's nomination. He was beaten by noted lawyer and actorFred Thompson . Eight years later in 2002, after moving from his rural-based 4th district to urban Nashville, he won the nomination for the open seat ofBob Clement , another son of a former Tennessee Governor, and easily won election to the House again, where he is currently serving his (as of 2007) 9th term.succession box
title=Governor of Tennessee
before =Gordon Browning
after =Jim Nance McCord
years = 1939–1945succession box
title =United States Ambassador to Peru
before =William D. Pawley
after =Harold H. Tittmann, Jr.
years =1 July 1946 –29 June 1948
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