Editing Prentice Cooper

{{short description|American politician (1895–1969)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Prentice Cooper
|image=Prentice Cooper.jpg
|imagesize= 190px
|caption=Cooper circa 1940
|office = [[United States Ambassador to Peru]]
|president = [[Harry S. Truman]]
|term_start = July 1, 1946
|term_end = June 29, 1948
|predecessor = [[William D. Pawley|William Pawley]]
|successor = [[Harold H. Tittmann, Jr.]]
|order1=39th
|office1=Governor of Tennessee
|term_start1=January 16, 1939
|term_end1=January 16, 1945
|predecessor1=[[Gordon Browning]]
|successor1=[[Jim Nance McCord]]
|state_senate2 =Tennessee
|district2 =18th
|term_start2 =1936
|term_end2 =1939
|preceded3=Leighton Ewell
|succeeded3=[[Lem Motlow]]
|birth_name=William Prentice Cooper Jr.
|birth_date={{birth date|1895|09|28|mf=y}}
|birth_place= [[Bedford County, Tennessee]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1969|05|18|1895|09|28|mf=y}}
|death_place=[[Rochester, Minnesota]], U.S.
|resting_place=Jenkins Chapel Cemetery, [[Shelbyville, Tennessee]]
|spouse=Hortense Powell (m. 1950)<ref name=tehc>Anne-Leslie Owens, "[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=314 William Prentice Cooper, Jr.]," ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: December 14, 2012.</ref>
| children = 3, including [[Jim Cooper|Jim]] and [[John Cooper (Tennessee politician)|John]]
|profession=[[Lawyer|Attorney]]
|party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|alma_mater= [[Princeton University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Harvard Law School]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
|residence=
|allegiance={{flag|United States|1912}}
|branch={{army|United States}}
|serviceyears=1917&ndash;1919
|rank=[[Second Lieutenant]]
|battles=[[World War I]]
|unit=307th Field Artillery 
}}
'''William Prentice Cooper Jr.''' (September 28, 1895{{spaced ndash}}May 18, 1969) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 39th [[governor of Tennessee]] from 1939 to 1945. He led the state's mobilization efforts for [[World War II]], when over 300,000 Tennesseans joined the armed forces, and numerous defense-related facilities were established across the state. He later served as [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Peru|United States Ambassador to Peru]] (1946&ndash;1948) and chaired Tennessee's 1953 constitutional convention.<ref name=tsla>[http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/govpapers/findingaids/gp44.pdf Governor Prentice Cooper Papers (finding aid)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712212100/http://www.tn.gov/tsla/history/govpapers/findingaids/gp44.pdf |date=July 12, 2013 }}, Tennessee State Library and Archives, April 2002.  Retrieved: December 14, 2012.</ref>

==Early life==
Cooper was born at the home of his maternal grandparents, [[River Side Farmhouse]],<ref>{{cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: River Side Farmhouse|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/45550bd2-8b1f-4153-8a97-30d47a90569c/|website=National Park Service|publisher=United States Department of the Interior|access-date=October 9, 2017}}</ref> along the [[Duck River (Tennessee)|Duck River]] in [[Bedford County, Tennessee]].  He was the son of [[William Prentice Cooper]], an attorney and businessman, and Argentine (Shofner) Cooper. He attended private schools in nearby [[Shelbyville, Tennessee|Shelbyville]] and graduated in 1913 from the [[The Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee)|Webb School]] in [[Bell Buckle, Tennessee|Bell Buckle]], where he was president of the debate team.<ref name=tsla />

In 1914, Cooper enrolled in [[Vanderbilt University]], where he was a member of [[Phi Delta Theta]] and vice president of the freshman class. After two years, he transferred to [[Princeton University]], from which he graduated in 1917 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]].<ref name=tsla /> Following the U.S. entry into [[World War I]], he enlisted in the Army, initially serving with the 307th Field Artillery before being transferred to [[Fort Monroe]] in Virginia.  He was discharged in January 1919 with the rank of [[second lieutenant]].<ref name=tehc />

Cooper enrolled in [[Harvard Law School]] in February 1919 and graduated with an [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B]] in 1921.<ref name=tsla /> He was admitted to the [[bar (law)|bar]] in 1922 and began practice in Shelbyville. That same year he was elected to the [[Tennessee House of Representatives]], where he secured passage of the state's Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act.<ref name=tsla />

Cooper left the house after one term and was elected [[district attorney]] of the state's Eighth Judicial District in 1925. He later served as a [[city attorney]] for Shelbyville.<ref name=tehc /> In the 1930s, he helped organize the Duck River Electric Membership Corporation, an [[utility cooperative|electric cooperative]].<ref name=tsla />

==Governor==
[[File:William Prentice Cooper, Tennessee Governor 1939-1945.jpg|thumb|left|Official portrait in the Tennessee State House]]
In 1936 Cooper was elected to the [[Tennessee Senate]], representing Bedford, [[Coffee County, Tennessee|Coffee]], and [[Moore County, Tennessee|Moore]] counties.<ref name=tehc /> In 1938, he ran for his party's nomination for governor with the support of [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] political boss [[E. H. Crump]]. Crump was at the height of his power in state politics and had had a falling out with the incumbent, [[Gordon Browning]], over state appointments. He spent thousands of dollars on ads to boost Cooper's image and assail Browning, and Cooper won the nomination, 231,852 votes to 158,854.<ref name=langsdon>Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee: A Political History'' (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 325-329, 325-335.</ref> In the general election, he defeated the Republican candidate, [[Howard Baker, Sr.]], 210,567 votes to 83,031.<ref>[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=263033 Our Campaigns - TN Governor, 1938].  Retrieved: December 15, 2012.</ref>

In the 1940 governor's race, Cooper defeated Knoxville inventor [[George Roby Dempster]] in the Democratic primary, and he defeated C. Arthur Bruce by a more than 2-to-1 margin in the general election.<ref name=langsdon /> In the 1942 race, Judge J. Ridley Mitchell, who despised Crump, sought the party's nomination for governor but was defeated by Cooper, 171,259 votes to 124,037.<ref name=langsdon /> Cooper easily defeated Republican candidate C.N. Frazier in the general election. Constitutional term limits prevented Cooper from seeking reelection in 1944.

Cooper was Tennessee's governor during [[World War II]]. In 1940, anticipating the U.S. entry into the war, he organized the Tennessee State Defense Council, which many other states would later imitate.<ref name=tehc /> He also coordinated the establishment of [[draft board]]s, organized a state guard to replace the National Guard (which had been called up to active service), and established a model Home Food Supply Program.<ref name=tsla /> Large defense-related facilities were built throughout the state, including [[Fort Campbell]], most of which is in Tennessee despite its Kentucky address, a naval training base in [[Millington, Tennessee|Millington]], and [[Sewart Air Force Base]] in [[Smyrna, Tennessee|Smyrna]].<ref name=tehc /> Defense-related plants, employing thousands of Tennesseans, were also built, among them a gunpowder plant at Millington, a shell-loading factory in [[Milan, Tennessee|Milan]], and an aircraft factory in Nashville.<ref name=tehc />

In 1942, the federal government appropriated land in what is now [[Oak Ridge, Tennessee]], for the top secret [[Manhattan Project]] which was developing the world's first [[atomic bomb]]. Cooper was not informed of the purpose of the project. When [[Anderson County, Tennessee|Anderson Countians]] complained to Cooper of land appropriations, Cooper accused the federal government of stealing the land for a "socialist" project. When officially notified in July 1943 by an Army lieutenant of the presidential proclamation making the area a military district not subject to state control, he angrily ripped it to pieces. The new MED District Engineer Lieutenant Colonel [[Kenneth Nichols]] had to placate him.<ref>"[http://www.tn4me.org/article.cfm/era_id/7/major_id/9/minor_id/72/a_id/219 Oak Ridge, The Secret City]," Tennessee4me.org.  Retrieved: December 15, 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite book
  | last1 = Nichols
  | first1 = Kenneth
  | year = 1987
  | title =  The Road to Trinity: A Personal Account of How America's Nuclear Policies Were Made
  | publisher = William Morrow
  | location = New York
  | isbn = 068806910X
  }} pp99-100
</ref>

Along with defense mobilization, Cooper increased funding for state schools and implemented a program that provided free textbooks for children in grades 1 through 3.<ref name=tsla /> He increased aid to the elderly, established a system of [[tuberculosis]] hospitals, and acquired land for state parks and state forests.<ref name=tehc />  He cut the state payroll and placed taxes on alcohol, and he managed to reduce the state debt by $21 million.<ref name=tsla /> In January 1941, a Cooper-supported bill calling for a repeal of the state's [[Poll taxes in the United States|poll tax]] was introduced in the state legislature but was defeated. In 1943, the repeal passed but was thrown out by the [[Tennessee Supreme Court]].<ref name="tsla" />{{dead link|date=September 2019}}

==Later life==

Cooper was among 12 nominated at the [[1944 Democratic National Convention]] to serve as [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s running mate in the [[1944 United States presidential election|presidential election that year]], receiving 26 votes.<ref name="catledge19440722">{{Cite news |url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/440722convention-dem-ra.html |title=Truman Nominated for Vice Presidency |last=Catledge |first=Turner |date=July 22, 1944 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 25, 2017}}</ref> In 1946, Cooper was appointed U.S. Ambassador to [[Peru]] by President [[Harry S. Truman|Harry Truman]]. He convinced Peru to repay an outstanding loan to the United States and had a reputation as a frugal entertainer.<ref name=tsla /> An Argentine newspaper accused Cooper of inciting a rebellion by [[American Popular Revolutionary Alliance|APRA]] members in [[Callao]] in October 1948 (the rebellion took place several months after Cooper had left office), but Cooper adamantly denied any involvement.<ref name=tsla />

Cooper was chairman of the limited state constitutional convention of 1953 which proposed eight amendments to the [[Tennessee State Constitution]], all of which were  subsequently adopted by voters. The most notable of these amendments included the repeal of the poll tax and the extension of the gubernatorial term from two years to four years.<ref name=tsla />

Encouraged by pro-segregation interests, Cooper challenged freshman U.S. Senator [[Albert Gore Sr.]], in the 1958 Democratic primary but lost handily, with Gore taking about 60% of the vote. Cooper remained an active participant in Democratic Party events until his death from cancer on May 18, 1969, at the [[Mayo Clinic]] in [[Rochester, Minnesota]].<ref name=tehc />

==Family and legacy==
[[File:Governor Prentice Cooper House.JPG|thumb|Cooper's house located at Shelbyville, Tennessee.]]
Cooper married Hortense Hayes Powell (1919–2017) in 1950. They had three sons: William Prentice Cooper, III, [[Jim Cooper]], [[John Cooper (Tennessee politician)|John Cooper]]. Since Cooper was a bachelor during his tenure as governor, his mother served as the state's first lady.<ref name=tehc /> Jim is a former U.S. congressman, while John was mayor of [[List of mayors of Nashville, Tennessee|Metro Nashville]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/10/nashville-mayor-race-john-cooper-touts-developer-past/1594993001/|title=John Cooper sees bipartisan path to winning Nashville mayor's race}}</ref>

Prentice Cooper State Forest, located west of [[Chattanooga, Tennessee|Chattanooga]], is named for Cooper. Most of the land for the forest was acquired during Cooper's tenure as governor.<ref>[http://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forestry/stateforest07.shtml Prentice Cooper State Forest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108211028/http://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forestry/stateforest07.shtml |date=January 8, 2013 }}, Tennessee Department of Agriculture.  Retrieved: December 15, 2012.</ref> Residence halls at [[Tennessee Tech]] and the [[University of Tennessee at Martin]] have also been named for Cooper.<ref>[http://www.tntech.edu/reslife/cooperdunnhall/ Cooper and Dunn Halls] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112085426/http://www.tntech.edu/reslife/cooperdunnhall/ |date=January 12, 2013 }}, Tennessee Technological University website.  Retrieved: December 15, 2012.</ref><ref>[http://www.utm.edu/virtualtour/_swfs/cooper.swf Cooper Hall] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129203125/http://utm.edu/virtualtour/_swfs/cooper.swf |date=January 29, 2013 }}, University of Tennessee Martin website.  Retrieved: December 15, 2012.</ref> Cooper's house stands in Shelbyville and is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].

==See also==
*[[List of governors of Tennessee]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://sos-tn-gov-files.tnsosfiles.com/forms/GOVERNOR_PRENTICE_COOPER_PAPERS_1939-1945.pdf Governor Prentice Cooper Papers, 1939-1945] &ndash; Tennessee State Library and Archives
*[http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_tennessee/col2-content/main-content-list/title_cooper_william.html Prentice Cooper] &ndash; entry at the [[National Governors Association]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212802/http://tnportraits.org/cooper-william-prentice-jr.htm Portrait painting of Governor Cooper] &ndash; Tennessee Portrait Project
*[http://tnsos.org/tsla/imagesearch/citation.php?ImageID=1002 Photographic portrait of Governor Cooper] &ndash; Tennessee State Library and Archives

{{S-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Gordon Browning]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of Governors of Tennessee|Governor of Tennessee]]|years=[[1938 Tennessee gubernatorial election|1938]], [[1940 Tennessee gubernatorial election|1940]], [[1942 Tennessee gubernatorial election|1942]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Jim Nance McCord]]}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box
 |title=[[Governor of Tennessee]]
 |before = [[Gordon Browning]]
 |after = [[Jim Nance McCord]]
 |years = 1939–1945
}}
{{S-dip}}
{{Succession box
 |title  = [[United States Ambassador to Peru]]
 |before = [[William D. Pawley]]
 |after  = [[Harold H. Tittmann, Jr.]]
 |years  = July 1, 1946 – June 29, 1948
}}
{{End}}

{{Governors of Tennessee}}
{{US Ambassadors to Peru}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Prentice}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:American anti-communists]]
[[Category:American Lutherans]]
[[Category:American segregationists]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:District attorneys in Tennessee]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Tennessee]]
[[Category:Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party Tennessee state senators]]
[[Category:1944 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Peru]]
[[Category:People from Shelbyville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Cooper family]]
[[Category:People from Bedford County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Tennessee]]
[[Category:20th-century Lutherans]]
[[Category:20th-century American diplomats]]
[[Category:City and town attorneys in the United States]]
[[Category:Phi Delta Theta members]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly]]