Ofir cohen biography of william

William S. Cohen posing with U.S. Capitol building in the background

Background  |  Public Life  |  Legislative Highlights  |  Constituent Service  |  Secretary of Defense  |  Author

  Photo of Reuben, William and Clara Cohen, 1980

Background

William S.

Cohen was born on August 28, 1940 in Bangor, Maine. His father Reuben, a baker, was a Russian-Jewish immigrant and his mother, Clara, is of Irish-Protestant descent. Cohen graduated from Bangor High School in 1958, and from Bowdoin College with an A.B.

cum laude in Latin in 1962. An accomplished athlete, he was named to the Maine all-state high school and college basketball teams, and, while at Bowdoin, he was inducted into the New England All-Star Hall of Fame. In 1965, he received his LL.B cum laude from Boston University Law School and, during that same year, he became the assistan