Thad Cochran

Thad Cochran (born December 7, 1937, Pontotoc, Mississippi, U.S.—died May 30, 2019, Oxford, Mississippi) was an American politician who represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate from 1978 to 2018. He was the first Republican to win statewide office in Mississippi in more than 100 years. Cochran previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1973–78).

While growing up, Cochran was active in the Boy Scouts, eventually attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended the University of Mississippi, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree (1959) in psychology. A cadet in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, he then served in the navy for a two-year tour of duty. After leaving the service he studied law at the University of Mississippi (Juris Doctor, 1965) and then went into law practice. During that time he married Rose Clayton, and the couple later had two children. Rose died in 2014, and Cochran married Kay Webber the following year.

In the late 1960s Cochran, who had been a conservative Democrat, followed many in the South by switching over to the Republican Party to support Richard Nixon. He directed Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign in Mississippi. In 1972 Cochran entered a race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and won, holding the post from 1973 to 1978. That year he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He took office in December 1978, after the incumbent, James O. Eastland, resigned early, and Cochran was appointed to finish the last month of Eastland’s term.

Cochran was considered a moderate and a pragmatist. Although he sought to limit government spending, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, he was able to deliver federal dollars to his state, especially in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (2005). On social issues he tended to be conservative, opposing abortion rights and same-sex marriage. He also supported prayer in public schools. Although usually easily reelected, Cochran faced a serious test in 2014 when a Tea Party candidate entered the race. Trailing for much of the primary cycle, Cochran enlisted support from the state’s historically Democratic African Americans, who helped him win the tightly contested runoff, which was open to voters from both parties. Cochran then easily won the general election. In 2017 Cochran supported Pres. Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change, and later that year he voted for a massive—and highly controversial—tax reform bill. In April 2018 Cochran retired, citing health issues.