Former Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran Passes Away at 81
Cochran served in the US Senate for 45 years
Former Senator Thad Cochran passed away Thursday morning at the age of 81. Cochran served in the US Senate for 45 years.
Thad Cochran, who passed away at 81 this AM, in 1978 became the first Republican to represent Mississippi in the Senate since Reconstruction.
Here’s @mitchellreports NBC Nightly News report on his breakthrough victory from November 8, 1978: pic.twitter.com/nDzez0J0sN
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) May 30, 2019
From Politico:
Cochran served as the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman, most recently from 2015 until April of 2018, and helped direct millions of dollars to his home state in his 45 years in Congress. He stepped down last spring as his health deteriorated, and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) was selected as his replacement.
The GOP senator was a throwback from a more genteel era of American politics, rarely engaging the brutal fights and pitched partisanship of today’s modern-day Senate. In his farewell speech last year, Cochran reminisced of serving in Congress “with nine presidents during times of conflict and peace.”
“We have engaged in heated arguments. But even in full disagreement, I believe all our motivations begin at the same point: the sincere desire to serve our states and country,” he said then. He is the tenth-longest serving senator of all time, according to Senate records.
The low-key Republican had good relationships with Democrats and was nicknamed the “quiet persuader” for his style of politicking. Indeed, he rarely raised his voice, shied away from the press and generally kept his head down in the Capitol as he sought to strike consensus on spending and farm bills.
Trump responded to the news:
Very sad to hear the news on the passing of my friend, Senator Thad Cochran. He was a real Senator with incredible values – even flew back to Senate from Mississippi for important Healthcare Vote when he was desperately ill. Thad never let our Country (or me) down!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2019
A Cochran throwback, courtesy of CSPAN:
Sen. Thad Cochran’s first C-SPAN appearance was while presiding in the Senate on the first day of Cameras in the U.S. Senate (June 2, 1986). He had 831 total C-SPAN appearances. RIP. https://t.co/PVpkzLeGZN https://t.co/bTeHxV2Xg6 pic.twitter.com/ksG4P9RTGX
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 30, 2019
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Comments
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I’m gonna go with distracted biline typing, lol.
fake but accurate
We’d all be so much better off if that was the mandated length of “public service.” That this guy was in office for 45 years, like Fat Boy Kennedy, Robert Bryd, and others, is the very idea of corruption. It’s sickening.
Sounds bout right for a a Senator.
The other 44.99 years were fundraising and going to dinner with lobbyists.
Correct. Changing the headline would be immoral.
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Joe Chip.
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I always thought the guy resembled Buddy Ebsen, Fess Parker’s sidekick on the old TV series about Davy Crockett. He was old enough, I guess.
Please correct your typo with the photo – says that he was in the Senate for 45 minutes.
That’s too long and too old to be making the political decisions of this country. And I’m 72. There needs to be a limit on age at least so as to allow younger fresher people in.
Mildly clever click-bait; the incongruity compelled a click.