Path to Power
Cochran was born in Pontotoc, Miss., on December 7, 1937 to William Holmes Cochran, a principal, and Emma Grace Cochran, a teacher. The family spent the summers at the University of Mississippi, where William and Emma earned masters’ degrees, and Blue Mountain College, where they were on the faculty. Both parents were involved in Democratic political campaigns and took Thad along to deliver pamphlets or help register voters.
Young Thad became an Eagle Scout, class valedictorian, and earned varsity letters in high school in football, basketball, baseball and tennis. Cochran went on to graduate from the University of Mississippi in 1959 with a degree in psychology and political science. He was the vice president of the student body, a cheerleader, and a member of the Navy ROTC.
Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve and assigned to the USS Macon in Boston. In 18 months on the ship, Cochran graduated as an honor student from the U.S Navy School of Justice. In 1961 he was assigned to the staff of the commandant of the Eighth Naval District in New Orleans. That same year, he entered law school at the University of Mississippi.
During his time in law school, Cochran sat on the editorial board of the Mississippi Law Journal, competed in moot court competitions, and won a fellowship to study at Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland. While in Ireland, Cochran spoke to rotary clubs about the fight for civil rights in Mississippi. He graduated Phi Kappa Phi in 1965.
Cochran married fellow Ole Miss graduate Rose Clayton in 1964. The couple has two children and three grandchildren and lives in Jackson, Miss.
After law school, Cochran joined the law firm Watkins & Eager in Jackson, Miss.. He became a partner two-and-a-half years later. In 1971, he was elected president of the young lawyers division on the Mississippi Bar Association.
By the late ‘60s, Cochran was endorsing candidates for sheriff and state treasurer. In 1968, he got his start in Republican politics as the executive director of Mississippi Citizens for Nixon-Agnew for Richard Nixon’s campaign. Though Nixon finished third in Mississippi, people Cochran met during the campaign urged him to run for Congress.
In 1972, in his first bid for public office, Cochran won the U.S. House seat for the 4th District. He was re-elected in 1974 and 1976.
U.S. Senate
In 1978, Cochran ran for and won an open U.S. Senate seat.. He was the first Republican in more than 100 years to win a statewide race in Mississippi. In 1984, he successfully defended his seat against Gov. William Winter (D), 61 to 39 percent, thanks in part to out-fundraising Winter $2.7 million to $738,000. He was unopposed in 1990. In 1996, Cochran won with more than 70 percent of the vote. That margin jumped to 85 percent when he was re-elected in 2002 without a Democratic opponent. Cochran was re-elected to his 6th term in 2008 by 61 to 39 percent over Erik Fleming, a former Democratic state representative.
In the Senate, Cochran sits on the Appropriations Committee, where he is the ranking Republican member; the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; and the Rules Committee. He was previously the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference; the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; and the new Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee from 2003 to 2004.
Cochran also chaired the full Appropriations Committee when Republicans controlled the Senate from 2005 to 2007. When he took over, Cochran said, “We’re not going to have runaway spending on the Appropriations Committee when I’m chairman. I won’t tolerate it.” On earmark spending, Cochran said, “If it’s not agreed upon by all who are concerned, then it doesn’t get included in the bill. I’m not going to engage in a practice of putting things in bills without consultation with other senators. … I think Mississippi can be assured that our needs will be carefully considered, but it will be a tough budget year, and I don’t want to enlarge expectations too much.”Hurricane Katrina in 2005 forced Cochran to change his plans.
In March 2009, one of Cochran’s former aides pleaded guilty to trading legislative favors for event tickets from jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff's firm. Ann Copland worked for Cochran for 29 years. Cochran has not been implicated. The charges against Copland carry a sentence of up to five years, but under a plea deal, she will likely receive 10 to 16 months. As of early April, her scheduling date had not yet been set.
