Prentice Cooper
Encyclopedia
William Prentice Cooper (September 28, 1895 May 18, 1969) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and Governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945.

Life and career

A native of Bedford County, Tennessee, he attended Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 and then Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. After service in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, he opened a law practice in 1921, and served in the Tennessee House of Representatives
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...

 in 1923 before being elected district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

. In 1936 he was elected to the Tennessee State Senate. He attracted the favorable attention of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

 political boss E.H. Crump, who had experienced a falling-out with his one-time protege, Governor Gordon Browning
Gordon Browning
Gordon Weaver Browning was an American politician who represented Tennessee in the United States Congress and was later Governor of Tennessee from 1937 to 1939 and again from 1949 to 1953.-Biography:...

. With Crump's help, Cooper achieved the Democratic nomination for governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 in August, 1938. At this point in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 history, the Democratic nomination for statewide office was considered "tantamount to election
Tantamount to election
"Tantamount to election" is a phrase to describe a situation in which one political party so dominates the demographics of a voting district, that the person winning the party nomination for a race will virtually be assured of winning the general election...

", as it was in much of the South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 in that era.

Cooper was Tennessee's wartime governor during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, which brought about the basis for the greatest social change in the history of the state up to that point. Large facilities were built, including Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee...

, most of which is in Tennessee despite its Kentucky address, some POW camps, and the Oak Ridge
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 27,387 at the 2000 census...

 facilities where the atomic bomb was developed. Of course, the state government under Cooper played only a supporting role in these activities, which were under the direction of the federal government's War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...

.

Cooper was also an advocate for education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, and during his tenure the state began to provide textbooks for students in the lower grades without requiring that their parents purchase them, a major change. He was also dedicated to higher teacher pay, but very limited in how he could provide for this due to the state's very limited tax base. He was also dedicated to public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

, and during his tenure a statewide network of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

 hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

s was built which served the state for about three decades.

Cooper served three consecutive two-year terms. During his tenure, the state debt was greatly reduced. Staying active in public service, Cooper was later U.S. ambassador to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. He served as a delegate to the limited state constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

al convention in 1953, which proposed several major changes which were subsequently adopted by the voters, including, perhaps most notably, the extension of the gubernatorial term from two to four years.

Encouraged by pro-segregation interests, Cooper challenged freshman the U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Albert Gore, Sr.
Albert Gore, Sr.
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Sr. was an American politician, serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party from Tennessee....

 in the 1958 Democratic primary, but lost handily (with Gore taking about 60% of the vote). From then on, he was regarded as something of a Democratic elder statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

. Prentice Cooper State Forest, atop Suck Creek Mountain near Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...

 is named in his honor, as are buildings at virtually all of Tennessee state universities.

Cooper, a bachelor while in office, later married. His son Jim Cooper
Jim Cooper
James Hayes Shofner "Jim" Cooper is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition. He previously represented from 1983 to 1995....

, born in 1954, has served on two separate occasions in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

. In his first race in 1982, he successfully ran against Cissy Baker, the daughter of then-Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker
Howard Baker
Howard Henry Baker, Jr. is a former Senate Majority Leader, Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee, White House Chief of Staff, and a former United States Ambassador to Japan.Known in Washington, D.C...

, in a race featuring the offspring of two famous Tennessee political figures. After 6 terms, he made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1994 for the open seat that Al Gore, Jr. had vacated with his election to the Vice-Presidency in 1992, although unlike his father, he managed to win his party's nomination. He was beaten by noted lawyer and actor Fred Thompson. Eight years later in 2002, after moving from his rural-based 4th district to urban Nashville, he won the nomination for the open seat of Bob Clement
Bob Clement
Robert Nelson "Bob" Clement is a Tennessee politician and a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life:Clement is the son of former Governor Frank G. Clement...

, another son of a former Tennessee Governor, and easily won election to the House again, where he is currently serving his (as of 2009) 10th term.
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