William Cohen

William Cohen
Official portrait, 1997
20th United States Secretary of Defense
In office
January 24, 1997 – January 20, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
DeputyJohn Hamre
Rudy de Leon
Preceded byWilliam J. Perry
Succeeded byDonald Rumsfeld
United States Senator
from Maine
In office
January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1997
Preceded byWilliam Hathaway
Succeeded bySusan Collins
Chair of the Senate Aging Committee
In office
January 4, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Preceded byDavid Pryor
Succeeded byChuck Grassley
Chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
In office
January 5, 1981 – January 3, 1983
Preceded byJohn Melcher
Succeeded byMark Andrews
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Maine's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded byWilliam Hathaway
Succeeded byOlympia Snowe
Mayor of Bangor, Maine
In office
1971–1972
Member of the Bangor City Council
In office
1969–1972
Personal details
Born
William Sebastian Cohen

(1940-08-28) August 28, 1940 (age 84)
Bangor, Maine, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Diana Dunn
(div. 1987)

(m. 1996)
Children2
EducationBowdoin College (BA)
Boston University (LLB)

William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979–1997), and as Secretary of Defense (1997–2001) under Democratic President Bill Clinton.[1]

Described as "a Republican moderate from Maine" and "something of a maverick centrist" by David Halberstam, Cohen had very good working relations with President Clinton and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and an "almost ideal" collaboration with the Joint Chiefs of Staff;[2] however he often clashed with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, whom he saw as "a grandstander, too outspoken on policy matters, and too eager to use military force."[2]

  1. ^ "William S. Cohen - William J. Clinton Administration". Office of the Secretary of Defense - Historical Office.
  2. ^ a b Charles A. Stevenson, SECDEF: The Nearly Impossible Job of Secretary of Defense, pp. 105–114, Potomac Books, 2006