Jere Cooper

Jere Cooper
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee
In office
March 4, 1929 – December 18, 1957
Preceded byFinis J. Garrett
Succeeded byFats Everett
Constituency9th District (1929-1933)
8th District (1933-1943)
9th District (1943-1953)
8th District (1953-1957)
Personal details
BornJuly 20, 1893 (1893-07-20)
Dyer County, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedDecember 18, 1957 (1957-12-19) (aged 64)
Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Citizenship United States
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMary Rankley Cooper
ChildrenJere Cooper
Alma materCumberland School of Law
ProfessionAttorney politician
Military service
AllegianceUnited States United States of America
Branch/serviceUnited States Army
Years of service1917 - April 2, 1919
Rank First Lieutenant Captain(July 9, 1918)
UnitSecond Tennessee Infantry, National Guard Co K, 119th Infantry, Thirtieth Division
Battles/warsWorld War I (France and Belgium)

Jere Cooper (July 20, 1893 – December 18, 1957) was a Democratic United States Representative from Tennessee.

Biography

Cooper was born on a farm near Dyersburg, Dyer County, Tennessee, son of Joseph W. and Viola May (Cooper) Cooper. He attended public schools and then was graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1914. He was admitted to the bar in 1915 and commenced practice in Dyersburg, Tennessee. He married Mary Rankley in December 1930; the couple had one son, Leon Jere Cooper, who died as a child.[1]

Career

Upon the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, Cooper enlisted in the Second Tennessee Infantry, National Guard, and was commissioned a first lieutenant. Later he was transferred, with his company, to Co K, 119th Infantry, Thirtieth Division, and served in France and Belgium. On July 9, 1918, he was promoted to captain and served as regimental adjutant until discharged from the army on April 2, 1919. After the war he resumed the practice of law in Dyersburg.

Cooper was a member of the city council and city attorney from 1920 to 1928, and was elected department commander of the American Legion of Tennessee in 1921.

Elected as a Democrat to the 71st, and to the fourteen succeeding, Congresses, Cooper served from March 4, 1929, until his death.[2] He served as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means (84th and 85th Congresses), and on the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation (Eighty-fifth Congress).[3]

He was a signatory to the 1956 Southern Manifesto that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education.

Death

Cooper died in Bethesda, Maryland, on December 18, 1957 (age 64 years, 151 days). He is interred at Fairview Cemetery, Dyersburg, Tennessee.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Jere Cooper". Tennessee Historical Society. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Jere Cooper". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Jere Cooper". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  4. ^ "Jere Cooper". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 9th congressional district
1929–1933 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 8th congressional district
1933–1943 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 9th congressional district
1943–1953 		Succeeded by
Clifford Davis
Preceded by
Tom Murray
 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 8th congressional district
1953–1957 		Succeeded by