Wes Cooley

Wes Cooley

Wester Shadric "Wes" Cooley (born March 28, 1932 in Los Angeles , California - † February 4, 2015 in Bend , Oregon ) was an American politician . Between 1995 and 1997 he represented the second constituency of the state of Oregon in the US House of Representatives .

Career

After his school days Cooley completed his military service in the US Army from 1952 to 1954 during the Korean War . He then studied at the University of Southern California until 1958 . He later worked as a rancher and became the owner of Rose Laboratories . Cooley joined the Republican Party and was elected to the Oregon Senate in 1992 .

After his victory in the 1994 congressional elections, he moved into the US House of Representatives on January 3, 1995, where he replaced the no longer running Robert Freeman Smith . In Congress , he campaigned for property rights, the strengthening of the military and other republican goals. During his tenure in Congress, doubts arose about the portrayal of his military past. Cooley had stated that he took part in the Korean War. However, this statement was controversial as no witnesses could be found. It soon became apparent that Cooley had been untruthful about his participation in the war. In addition, his wife, Rosemary Herron Cooley, who was the widow of a war veteran, continued to receive money from the war widow's fund after her marriage to Cooley, although the entitlement had expired with the remarriage.

Since at the same time several other incidents, such as the allegation of sexual harassment of at least 29 women by US Senator Bob Packwood, incriminated the Republican Party in Oregon, it was decided to take Cooley out of the running before the next elections and instead his predecessor Bob Smith to nominate, who was then also elected and replaced Cooley in Congress on January 3, 1999.

In 1997, Wes Cooley was sentenced to two years in prison by a court jury in Salem for campaigning false testimony. In 1998, despite his conviction, he ran for a nomination for Congress within his party. He only achieved third place with 9.12% of the votes in the primary elections. In January 2009, Cooley was charged with stock fraud. In December 2012, he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

Web links

• Wes Cooley in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ktvz: Wes Cooley, CO congressman ensnared in scandal, dies at 82. In: ktvz.com. Retrieved November 26, 2015 . 
2. ^ Oregon GOP Picks Replacement for Incumbent. In: nytimes.com. August 25, 1996, accessed November 26, 2015 . 
3. ↑ Congressman indicted on charge of Lying About service in Korea. In: nytimes.com. December 12, 1996, accessed November 26, 2015 . 
4. ^ Edvard Pettersson: Ex-Congressman Cooley Gets 1-Year Term for Hiding Income. In: bloomberg.com. December 11, 2012, accessed November 26, 2015 .