Wikipedia

Benjamin V. Cohen

Benjamin Victor Cohen(September 23, 1894 – August 15, 1983), a member of the administrations ofFranklin D. RooseveltandHarry S. Truman,had a public service career that spanned from the earlyNew Dealto after theVietnam War.

Benjamin V. Cohen
Benjamin V. Cohen
6thCounselor of the United States Department of State
In office
September 14, 1945 – July 31, 1947
PresidentHarry S. Truman
Preceded byR. Walton Moore
Succeeded byCharles E. Bohlen
Personal details
Born(1894-09-23)September 23, 1894
Muncie, Indiana
DiedAugust 15, 1983(1983-08-15)(aged 88)
Washington, D.C.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Chicago
Harvard Law School
OccupationLawyer
Known forKey member of Franklin Roosevelt's brain trust

Education

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Cohen earnedBachelor of Philosophy(1914) andJuris Doctor(1915) degrees from theUniversity of Chicago,and aDoctor of Juridical Science(1916) fromHarvard Law School.[1]

Early career, Brain Trust, New Deal

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Cohen was alaw clerktoJudge Julian Mack.[2]He served as counsel for the AmericanZionist Movementfrom 1919 to 1921, during which he acted as Zionist counsel to the1919 Paris Peace Conference.[3]Cohen practiced law in New York from 1921 to 1933.[3]During this period Cohen worked with theNational Consumers Leagueto draft and enact minimum wage, child labor, and worker hours legislation that would survive a challenge in the Supreme Court.[4]

Cohen first appeared on the national scene as a member of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt'sBrain Trust.Cohen became a part of the Roosevelt administration in 1933 whenFelix Frankfurter,then aHarvard Law Schoolprofessor, brought Cohen,Thomas Corcoran,andJames M. Landistogether to write what became theTruth In Securities Act.Later that year Cohen was assigned to work on railroad legislation.

Much of Cohen's work during theNew Dealwas in conjunction with Corcoran. Together they were known as the "Gold Dust Twins"and appeared on the cover ofTimemagazine's September 12, 1938, edition.[5]By 1940 their friendship was well known enough to be used as a simile inP.G. Wodehouse's novel,Quick Service.[6]

World War II and postwar

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In 1941, before the United States enteredWorld War II,Cohen helped write theLend-Leaseplan. Cohen also assisted in the drafting of the 1944Dumbarton Oaks agreementsleading to the establishment of theUnited Nations.In 1945 Cohen served as the United States' chief draftsman at thePotsdam Conference.[7]

In 1942,The New York Timespublished a letter by Cohen and the co-authorErwin Griswolddecrying the United States Supreme Court'sBetts v. Bradyruling that poor criminal defendants had no right to an attorney. Two decades later the issue again came before the Supreme Court in theGideon v. Wainwrightcase. The attorneys forClarence Earl Gideon,the person accused of a crime, concluded theirbriefto the Supreme Court with a lengthy quotation from the Cohen/Griswold letter. This time, the Supreme Court ruled that the government must appoint attorneys for criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney.[8]

In 1944, Cohen became one of the drafters of theUnited NationsCharter at theDumbarton Oaks Conference,where he worked alongsideCharles W. Yost.In 1945, the two once more worked together at the Berlin Conference, on thePotsdam Agreement.

In 1948 Cohen advised both the United States and the newState of Israelwith respect to the first official exchange between both countries.[9]Cohen provided crucial advice and counsel to senators working for the passage of theCivil Rights Act of 1957.[10]In 1967 Cohen testified in favor of a proposedUnited States Senateresolution that would have called uponPresident Johnsonto request theUnited Nationsconsider proposals to end theVietnam War.[11]

Jordan A. Schwarz noted, "Although no government lawyer was as respected as Cohen, he never had a prominent position in government because of his palpable Jewishness."[12]

Personal life

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Born inMuncie, Indianaon September 23, 1894,[13]Cohen was considered to be humble and private; he never married.[14][1]

Cohen was the uncle ofSelma Jeanne Cohen,a prominent dance historian.[15]

Characterizations

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  • "Cohen was known for his slouching posture, sloppy dress, absentminded table manners – and for a skill at drafting legislation that was generally reckoned the best in the United States."[16]
  • He "looked and talked, as a friend wrote, 'like a Dickens portrait of anabsent-minded professor.'"[17]

Works

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References

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  • Caro, Robert A. (2002),Master of the Senate,New York: Alfred a Knopf Inc,ISBN0-394-52836-0
  • Lash, Joseph P. (1988),Dealers and Dreamers,New York: Doubleday,ISBN0-385-18716-5
  • Lewis, Anthony (1964),Gideon's Trumpet,New York: Random House,ISBN0-679-72312-9
  • Louchheim, Katie (Ed.)(1983),The Making of the New Deal: The Insiders Speak,Cambridge: Harvard University Press,ISBN0-674-54345-9
  • Mee, Jr., Charles L.(1975),Meeting at Potsdam,New York: M. Evans & Company,ISBN0-87131-167-4

Notes

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  1. ^ab"Cohen, Benjamin V. | Encyclopedia".encyclopedia.Retrieved2024-05-09.
  2. ^Lash, p. 16
  3. ^abLouchheim, p. 336.
  4. ^Lash, chap. IV
  5. ^Gold Dust Twins.Cover
  6. ^"We're like Cohen and Corcoran. One of those beautiful friendships." Chapter 9.
  7. ^Mee (book club edition), pp. 102, 219 & 223.
  8. ^Lewis
  9. ^"Counsel to the President," the memoirs of Clark Clifford with Richard Holbrooke, published in 1991Archived2010-06-13 at theWayback Machine(visited 9/3/09)
  10. ^Caro, pp. 949-51 & 1008.
  11. ^Chicago Tribune,"Give Viet Cong Voice In Peace Talks - Cohen" (October 27, 1967).
  12. ^Schwarz, Jordan A (1994).The New Dealers.Vintage Books.p. 144.
  13. ^""Benjamin V. Cohen," Ball State University ".
  14. ^"An Inventory to the Benjamin V. Cohen Papers. 1902-1982 (bulk 1919-1935). Manuscript Collection No. 65".collections.americanjewisharchives.org.Retrieved2024-05-09.
  15. ^SeeSelma Jeanne Cohen Papers b. 3 f. 20.
  16. ^Mee (book club edition), p. 219
  17. ^Caro, p. 949

Further reading

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Biography

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Lasser, William,Benjamin V. Cohen: Architect of the New Deal(Yale University Press: 2002)

Magazines & Journals

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Other

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  • Benjamin V. Cohen Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
  • Benjamin V. Cohen Papers, Zionist Archives, New York
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