Benjamin Victor Cohen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin V. Cohen (September 23, 1894 (Muncie, Indiana) – August 15, 1983 (Washington, D.C.)), who had a public service career that spanned from the early New Deal through and beyond the Vietnam War era, was a key figure in the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman from 1933 - 1952.
He was counsel for the American Zionist Movement from 1919 - 1921 and a New York corporate lawyer from 1922 - 1933.
Cohen's first appearance on the national scene was as a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Brain Trust. Cohen became a part of the Roosevelt's administration in 1933 when Felix Frankfurter, then a Harvard University Law School professor, brought Cohen, Thomas Corcoran, and James M. Landis together to write what became the Truth In Securities Act. Later that year Cohen was assigned to work on railroad legislation.
Much of Cohen's work during the New Deal was in conjunction with Corcoran. Together they were known as the "gold dust twins" and were on the cover of TIME Magazine's September 12, 1938, edition.
In 1941, during the period leading up to the entry of the United States into World War II he helped write the Lend-Lease plan.
Cohen also assisted in the drafting of the Dumbarton Oaks agreement for the Dumbarton Oaks Conference leading to the establishment of the United Nations.
Education: University of Chicago (Ph.B. 1914; J.D. 1915). Harvard Law School (S.J.D. 1916)
Cohen was the uncle of Selma Jeanne Cohen, a prominent dance historian. See Selma Jeanne Cohen Papers b. 3 f. 20.
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[edit] Works
- Report on the Work of the United Nations Disarmament Commission (1953)
- The United Nations: Constitutional Developments, Growth, and Possibilities (Harvard University Press : 1961)
[edit] Resources
[edit] Biography
Lasser, William, Benjamin V. Cohen: Architect of the New Deal (Yale University Press : 2002)
[edit] Other Books
Louchheim, Katie (Ed.), The Making of the New Deal: The Insiders Speak (Harvard University Press 1983)
[edit] Magazines
The Janizariat, TIME Magazine (September 12, 1938)
