Jim Cooper

Infobox_Congressman
name =Jim Cooper


width=200
date of birth= birth date and age|1954|07|19
place of birth= Nashville, Tennessee
state = Tennessee
district = 5th
term_start=January 3, 2003
preceded = Bob Clement
succeeded = Incumbent
state2=Tennessee
district2=4th
term_start2=January 3, 1983
term_end2=January 4, 1995
preceded2=Al Gore
succeeded2=Van Hilleary
party = Democrat
spouse = Martha Hayes
religion = Episcopalian
residence= Nashville, Tennessee
alma_mater= University of North Carolina, Oxford University, Harvard University
occupation= attorney

James Hayes Shofner "Jim" Cooper (born July 19, 1954) is a politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee, currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the state's ushr|Tennessee|5|fifth congressional district, based in Nashville. He is a Democrat, and previously represented the neighboring ushr|Tennessee|4|fourth congressional district from 1983 to 1995.

Early life

Cooper was born on June 19, 1954 in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the son of former governor Prentice Cooper. Cooper attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a recipient of the Morehead-Cain Scholarship, where he obtained a B.A. in history and economics. Cooper then went on to win the Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford earning a B.A./M.A. in politics and economics in 1977. In 1980, he received a J.D. from the Harvard University School of Law.

Fourth district

In 1982, he won the Democratic primary for the new 4th District, which had been created when Tennessee gained a district after the 1980 census. His Republican opponent was Cissy Baker, daughter of Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker. This race was closely watched for several reasons beyond the appeal of the offspring of two very prominent Tennessee political figures running against each other. The newly-created 4th District ran diagonally across the state, from heavily Republican areas near Tri-Cities, Knoxville and Chattanooga to the fringes of the Nashville suburbs. The district stretched across five media markets (the Tri-Cities, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville and Huntsville, Alabama), so the 1982 race had much of the feel of a statewide race. Due to the district's demographics, many felt whoever won it would almost instantly become a statewide figure with a high potential for election to statewide office in the future. Cooper defeated Baker with 66 percent of the vote and was reelected five more times with little substantive opposition, running unopposed in 1986 and 1988. This was somewhat surprising, given the district's volatile demographics. The district, then as now, was split between areas with strong Democratic and Republican voting histories. Indeed, prior to Cooper's election, much of the eastern portion of the 4th hadn't been represented by a Democrat since the Civil War. However, he found himself having to explain many of his votes to his somewhat conservative constituents.

In 1990, Cooper was one of the only three House Democrats that voted against the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1990/roll123.xml#N]

In 1992 he was co-author of a comprehensive national medical health plan. This met strong opposition from the Clintons. He has had poor relations with Hillary Clinton since. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/opinion/05brooks.html?em&ex=1202446800&en=71fcb9a2bceb4c8b&ei=5087%0A]

1994 Senate run

In 1994, Cooper ran for the United States Senate for the seat left open when Al Gore was elected Vice President, but was defeated by Republican attorney and actor Fred Thompson, receiving just under 40% of the vote. It was a bad night overall for Democrats in Tennessee, as Republicans captured Tennessee's other Senate seat (in the person of Bill Frist) as well as the governorship. The 4th also fell to the Republicans (in the person of Van Hilleary) as the party gained a majority of the state's congressional delegation for only the second time since Reconstruction. Cooper then moved to Nashville and entered private business, also serving as a professor at Vanderbilt University's Owen Graduate School of Management.

Return to congress

Fifth District Congressman Bob Clement ran for Thompson's Senate seat in 2002 after Thompson opted not to run for a second full term, creating the first open-seat race in the 5th District since 1897 (when it was numbered the 6th District). Cooper entered the Democratic primary along with several other prominent local Democrats. Republicans had long since given up on a district they hadn't won since 1874 (Republicans haven't made a serious bid for the 5th since 1972), meaning that whoever won the Democratic primary was all but assured of becoming the district's next representative. Cooper won the primary with 44 percent of the vote, all but assuring his return to Congress after an eight-year absence. Cooper defeated opponent Craig Schelske in the general election by an overwhelming margin; he was handily reelected in 2004 against a Republican who ran only a token campaign and disavowed his party's national ticket.

In the 2006 election, Cooper faced Tom Kovach. Kovach was the state public relations coordinator for the Constitution Party, but ran as a Republican since the Constitution Party did not have ballot access in Tennessee at the time. No one opposed Kovach for the Republican nomination. Cooper defeated Kovach by 41 points. Given the 5th's heavy Democratic tilt, it is very unlikely that Cooper will face substantive Republican opposition in the foreseeable future.

Cooper is the only Tennessean on the Armed Services Committee. He also serves on the Budget and Oversight and Government Reform Committees. During hearings on adverse conditions at Walter Reed Medical Center, Cooper asked if the same horrible conditions in the facility's Building 18 were present in the facility's other 17 buildings.Fact|date=June 2007

Notes

External links

* [http://cooper.house.gov/ U.S. Representative Jim Cooper] official House site
* [http://www.cooperforcongress.com/ Jim Cooper for Congress] official campaign site
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jim_Cooper Profile] at SourceWatch Congresspedia
* [http://www.liberadio.com/audio/liberadio_cooper_interview.mp3 Liberadio(!) Interview]