Jim Cooper (politician)

Jim Cooper

James Hayes Shofner "Jim" Cooper (born June 19, 1954 in Nashville , Tennessee ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party . Between 1983 and 1995 he sat for the fourth constituency of Tennessee in the US House of Representatives ; since 2003 he represents the fifth district of this state there .

Family, education and work

Jim Cooper is a son of the former Governor Prentice Cooper (1895-1969). Until 1972 he attended the Groton School in Massachusetts . He then studied history and economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until 1975 . This was followed by studies at Oxford University in England until 1977 , where he studied political science, among other things. After studying law at Harvard University and being admitted to the bar in 1980, he began to work in his new profession. At times he also taught at Vanderbilt University in Nashville .

Jim Cooper has been married to Martha Bryan Hays since 1985, with whom he has three children.

Political career

In the 1982 election he was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the fourth congressional constituency of Tennessee , where he succeeded Al Gore on January 3, 1983 . After five re-elections, he was able to complete six legislative terms in Congress by January 3, 1995 .

In 1994, he waived in favor of running for the United States Senate to run for re-election in the House of Representatives and resigned from Congress on January 3, 1995. In the by-election for the former Senate seat of US Vice President Al Gore, which took place at the same time as the general Senate election in November 1994 , he was defeated by the Republican actor Fred Thompson . In the years that followed, Cooper worked as an investment banker.

In the 2002 House of Representatives election , he made a political comeback with his victory in Tennessee's fifth congressional constituency, which mainly includes the city of Nashville. On January 3, 2003, he replaced Bob Clement in the US House of Representatives , whom he had beaten in the election. Cooper was re-elected in all subsequent elections, most recently in 2016; his current mandate runs until January 3, 2019. Before the 2018 election , a declaration of support by pop musician Taylor Swift for Cooper and Senate Democratic candidate Phil Bredesen caused a sensation in October 2018 . Swift hadn't commented on politics before.

Cooper is or was a member of the Armed Forces Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and four sub-committees. He is also a member of the Congressional Arts Caucus . Several times he received isolated votes in the election of Speaker of the House of Representatives from moderate Democrats, such as Gwen Graham in January 2015.

Positions

Cooper is considered a conservative centrist within the Democratic Party , who usually votes on the line of his party, but has more often joined the Republicans, especially in fiscal policy. He voted against special funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy and was skeptical of Obamacare's major healthcare reform . The Blue Dog is certified to have a cautious, deliberative and fact-oriented political style.

Web links

Commons : Jim Cooper  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Web presence at the Congress (English)
• Jim Cooper in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Cooper, Jim. In: Our Campaigns (English)

supporting documents

1. ↑ Christopher Bates: Trump Spars with Taylor Swift. In: Electoral Vote , October 9, 2018.
2. ↑ Cooper, Jim. In: Our Campaigns ; Ledyard King: Rep. Jim Cooper gets House speaker vote. In: The Tennessean , USA Today , Jan. 6, 2015.
3. ↑ Steven Hale, Steve Cavendish: US Rep. Jim Cooper, punching bag of hardcore liberals, puts up his dukes in a wide-ranging scene interview. In: Nashwille Scene , November 21, 2013.
4. ↑ Steven Hale: Rep. Jim Cooper on Voting, Immigration and Whether Trump Should Resign. In: Nashville Scene , December 13, 2017.