Jeffery Cohelan

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Jeffery Cohelan (June 24, 1914 - February 15, 1999) was a United States Representative from California. He was born in San Francisco, California. He attended the public schools and San Mateo Junior College. He received the A.B. from University of California School of Economics. He was a Fulbright research scholar at Leeds and Oxford Universities in England in 1953 and 1954. He was the secretary-treasurer of the Milk Drivers and Dairy Employees, Local 302, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties from 1942 until elected to Congress. He was a consultant to the University of California Institute of Industrial Relations.

Cohelan was a member of Berkeley Welfare Commission 1949-1953, and the Berkeley City Council 1955-1958. He also served as a member of San Francisco Council on Foreign Relations. He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-sixth and to the five succeeding Congresses, from 1959 to 1971. He was known as a Johnson liberal for his support of progressive programs, but also American involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1966, he faced a tough primary challenge from Ramparts magazine editor Robert Scheer, who was supported by local activists from the civil-rights and emerging anti-war movement. Support for the war helped lead to Cohelan's defeat in the 1970 primary by Berkeley City Councilman Ron Dellums. He later served as the executive director of the Group Health Association of America. He lived as a resident of Washington, D.C., until his death there on February 15, 1999.