Marlow Cook

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marlow W. Cook

U.S. Senator, Kentucky
In office December 1968–December 1974
Preceded by	Thruston B. Morton
Succeeded by	Wendell H. Ford

Born	July 27, 1926 Akron, New York
Political party	Republican
Spouse	unknown
Religion	unknown

Marlow Webster Cook (born July 27, 1926 in Akron, Erie County, New York) is a former Republican United States Senator from Kentucky.

In 1962, as County Judge-Executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky, Cook was partially responsible for the county's $34,000 purchase of the decrepit steamboat Avalon at public auction in Cincinnati, Ohio. Though auctioned as little more than scrap material, upon refurbishment the boat was rechristened the Belle of Louisville, and still (as of 2006) carries passengers yearly as one of the most recognizable symbols of the city of Louisville, Kentucky. At the time, Interstate 64 was being constructed along the city's waterfront, and Cook's purchase of the steamboat was intended as a measure to bring attention to the city's historic cobblestone wharf. A politically motivated taxpayer suit was brought by local lawyer Daniel Boone because of the county's expenditure of such an "outrageous sum" for a dilapidated "throwback to the dark ages of transportation," in Alan Bates' memorable phrase. According to Cook, the expenditure worked out to something like 6 cents per taxpayer (a negligible sum even by the standards of the day), and when individual citizens complained, he would simply pay them off with pennies from a jar he kept in his office desk for the purpose. In a 1989 interview, Cook said that some people insisted on checks and although he wrote several such six-cent checks, none of them were ever cashed.

Cook served with distinction in the United States Navy, was a lawyer, a judge, and a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. He was elected to the U. S. Senate in 1968 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Thruston B. Morton. Cook was defeated in his 1974 bid for reelection by the Governor, Democrat Wendell Ford.

He is now retired and resides in Sarasota, Florida. In a fiery op-ed, he announced his support for Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.