Wes Cooley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (July 2006)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
Wes Cooley
Wes Cooley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oregon's 2nd district
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by Robert F. Smith
Succeeded by Robert F. Smith
Born March 28, 1932 (1932-03-28) (age 76)
Los Angeles, California
Political party Republican
Spouse Rosemary Herron Cooley
This article is about Wes Cooley (congressman); for other people named Wes Cooley, see Wes Cooley (disambiguation).

Wester Shadric "Wes" Cooley (born March 28, 1932) was a Republican politician and rancher from Oregon. He was a U.S. Representative from Oregon's 2nd congressional district for the 1995–1997 term, leaving behind a legacy mired in scandal involving his military record.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Wester Shadric Cooley was born March 28, 1932 in Los Angeles, California. He served in the United States Army from 1952 to 1954, and is described in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress as a rancher. He owns the vitamin supplements company Rose Laboratories. Cooley graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958.

Cooley was tagged with the nickname "Wanderin' Wes" when he first ran for the Oregon Legislative Assembly, because he moved his mobile home barely inside the election district just long enough to meet the residency requirement. He was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1992. In 1994, Cooley was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican from Oregon's second district.

In the 104th Congress, Cooley was an advocate of private property rights, American military superiority, tort reform to limit recovery by plaintiffs, and other planks of the Republican Party's proclaimed Contract with America. Cooley was liked by ranchers and by the mining and timber industries, and he was outspokenly hostile to environmentalists and environmental laws; he once compared U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents to the Gestapo.

[edit] Disputed Veterans Status

Cooley became embroiled in controversy after it was alleged that he had made false claims about serving in the Korean War. Cooley maintained that he had indeed served in the Korean War but that he was unable to prove his claim because he had served in the top-secret Army Special Forces and had been sworn to secrecy. He also claimed that the records of his service had been "destroyed in a fire", and that his immediate commander, Sergeant Major Clifford Poppy, had been killed in action.

A newspaper reporter tracked down the still-living Poppy, who had not been a member of the Special Forces but a drill instructor who had participated in Cooley's basic training at boot camp. When asked about Cooley's claims, Poppy harshly replied, "Tell him he’s a liar. Tell him Sergeant Poppy said that.” Poppy's response was later corroborated by three other former soldiers who, like many veterans, were concerned about a veteran with disputed status. Cooley responded with a veiled (and unsubstantiated) accusation that Poppy was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

Cooley became something of a national laughingstock, a caricature of the lying politician. He was a repeat subject of derisive coverage in News of the Weird, as it further came to light that he had "mistakenly" claimed a Phi Beta Kappa key and had fabricated or exaggerated achievements in a world motorcycle competition. When asked about the Phi Beta Kappa "mistake," Cooley responded that he was actually a member of another honor society, but he couldn't recall that society's name. When further pressed on both incidents, he stated that the "liberal media was engaging in character assassination."

The embattled Cooley was additionally plagued by allegations that his wife, Rosemary Herron Cooley (whose first husband died in a military plane crash in 1965), continued to receive benefit checks from the government as the widow of a veteran, several years after she had married Cooley (which would make them both felons, as a widow's benefits immediately cease upon remarriage, and there are severe penalties for falsifying federal documents). Cooley refused to answer questions about the date of his marriage, and his press spokesman explained that before Cooley could make a statement about when he got married, the congressman would first need to gather all the "facts at his disposal." Cooley finally stated they had been married in 1991, which is when his wife had stopped receiving the benefit checks; this was a full six years later than they had previously claimed.

[edit] Withdrawal from office

In light of these scandals and the ridicule he was suffering, Cooley was persuaded to abandon his bid for re-election in 1996, although he had gained the Republican nomination when he ran unopposed in the primary. The final straw for Cooley occurred when Greg Walden, who at the time was the chairman of the Oregon Republican Party, announced that he would run for the seat as an independent, thus splitting the Republican vote and virtually guaranteeing a Democratic victory. There was good reason for the Republicans to want Cooley gone: Several months earlier, in September 1995, Oregon Republicans had suffered another embarrassing Washington scandal when U.S. Senator Robert Packwood was forced to resign his office; Senator Packwood's vehement denials of any wrongdoing (after 29 women came forward with claims of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assaults) were eventually contradicted by his own lurid diaries boasting of his sexual conquests.

Cooley's decision to withdraw from the 1996 congressional contest was a welcome relief to Oregon Republicans, as it allowed the Republican Party to substitute a much stronger nominee, former Congressman Robert F. Smith, who came out of retirement to win the 1996 election (upon the announcement of Smith's candidacy, Smith's good friend Walden had immediately dropped out of the campaign and endorsed him). Smith was induced to run in Cooley's stead by a promise from House Republican leaders to restore Smith's seniority and make him chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

[edit] Conviction

In 1997, Cooley was indicted by a state grand jury in Salem, Oregon, and convicted in Marion County Circuit Court of having lied on the 1994 voter information pamphlet about his service in the Army. Based on a plea agreement, he was fined and sentenced to two years probation by Circuit Judge Albin Norblad. Although quite a few political figures have been convicted of various crimes over the years, and although it is widely believed that politicians routinely lie to voters, Cooley is reportedly the only Member of Congress ever convicted specifically of lying to voters.

In 2001, documents that were part of a lawsuit between internet auction company eBay and a smaller competitor named bidBay stated that Cooley was a vice-president of bidBay. The same documents said that Cooley's 1997 conviction for lying had been set aside, or expunged, in 2000, under an Oregon law that rewards certain first-time offenders who successfully complete the terms of their sentence.

[edit] Attempted return to politics

In 1998, Cooley made a "comeback" bid, seeking to win the 1998 Republican nomination for Congress. Despite his 1997 conviction for lying, Cooley continued to assert that he had served in the Army Special Forces in the Korean conflict. The 1998 Oregon Voters Guide on the website of the Oregon Secretary of State says that the Cooley for Congress '98 campaign supplied the following information about Cooley's military service:

“ U.S. Army: Company L, 63rd Infantry; Basic Airborne, Fort Benning, GA; 25th Special Forces Operation Detachment; 10th Special Forces Group; HQ & HQ Company, Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, NC," and "U.S. Army, Special Forces; Veteran, Korean Conflict; Military Specialty of Demolition Specialist (MOS33533 — prefix "3" indicates completion of Special Combat Training). ”

In the Republican primary election May 19, 1998, Cooley received 6,156 votes (9.12%), which placed him third among the four Republican candidates on the ballot.

[edit] See also

Others who have made false claims about their military service:

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Robert F. Smith		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oregon's 2nd congressional district
1995–1997		 Succeeded by
Robert F. Smith