Tom Cotton

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Tom Cotton
Tom Cotton, Official Portrait, 113th Congress small.jpeg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2013
Preceded by Mike Ross
Personal details
Born (1977-05-13) May 13, 1977 (age 36)
Russellville, Arkansas[1]
Political party Republican
Residence Dardanelle, Arkansas, U.S.
Alma mater Harvard University
Profession Farmer
Management Consultant
Soldier
Lawyer
Religion Methodist[2]
Website Tom Cotton for Congress
Representative Tom Cotton
Military service
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 2005-2009
Rank Captain US-O3 insignia.svg
Unit US 101st Airborne Division patch.svg 101st Airborne Division
Battles/wars Iraq War
Afghanistan War
Awards Bronze Star
Ranger Tab
Combat Infantryman Badge

Thomas B. "Tom" Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician who has been a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Arkansas's 4th congressional district, since 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Born in Russellville, Arkansas, Cotton is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He worked as law clerk and as an attorney in private practice before joining in the U.S. Army in 2005. Cotton served a tour in Iraq and Afghanistan before leaving the military with the rank of a Captain in 2009. He worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company before returning to his hometown to work on his family's cattle farm.

In September 2011, Cotton announced his candidacy to run for Congress, after five term incumbent Mike Ross announced he wouldn't run for reelection. On May 22, 2012, he won the Republican primary with 57% of the vote, later defeating Arkansas State Senator Gene Jeffress in the general election with 59% of the vote.

Contents

Early life and education [edit]

Tom Cotton was born in Russellville, Arkansas on May 13, 1977. His father is a Vietnam War veteran who served with the 4th Infantry Division.[3] After graduating from Dardanelle High School in June 1995,[3] he attended Harvard College, where he served as a columnist for the Harvard Crimson, and a member of the Harvard Republican Club; after graduating from Harvard magna cum laude with an A.B. in Government,[4] he went on to Harvard Law School, where he received his law degree in June 2002.[3][5]

Military service [edit]

On January 11, 2005, Cotton joined the United States Army and entered Officer Candidate School in March 2005. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army on June 30, 2005. Cotton later attended both the U.S. Army Airborne School and Ranger School.[3]

As an infantry officer and platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division, he was deployed to Baghdad as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom on May 19, 2006. In Iraq, Cotton was responsible for a 41 man air assault infantry platoon, and planned and led daily combat patrols. He completed his first combat tour in Iraq on November 20, 2006, and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Iraq Campaign Medal, and various campaign/service medals.[3]

In June 2006, Cotton gained fame after he wrote an open letter to the New York Times criticizing the paper's publication of an article detailing a Bush administration secret program monitoring terrorists' finances in which he called for three journalists, including the Times' editor, Bill Keller, to be imprisoned for espionage.[6] The article was widely circulated online and reprinted in full in several newspapers.[7]

Following his deployment in Iraq, Cotton was assigned as a platoon leader at The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery,[8] where he was responsible for conducting military honor funerals for veterans. In 2008, he volunteered to return to combat duty, was promoted to Captain on August 1, 2008, and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom on October 15, 2008. In Afghanistan, Cotton was assigned to Laghman Province, just north of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan. He was assigned duty as the operations officer of a Provincial Reconstruction Team, where he planned and resourced daily counter-insurgency and reconstruction operations for an 83-member joint and interagency team.[3]

Cotton returned from Afghanistan on July 20, 2009. For his second tour in Afghanistan he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and various campaign/service medals. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army on September 26, 2009 at Fort Myer, Virginia.[3]

Law career [edit]

He served as a clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for Judge Jerry Edwin Smith and then engaged in private practice[9] as an attorney with the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher,[10] where he concentrated in labor, employment, and constitutional law, in cases at all levels of state and federal courts.[3] After leaving active duty, Cotton joined McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm. He subsequently returned to Dardanelle, where he works on his family's cattle farm.[5]

U.S. House of Representatives [edit]

2012 election [edit]

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas, 2012

Cotton ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in Arkansas' 4th congressional district in the 2012 election, vacant as a result of Democratic U.S. Congressman Mike Ross's retirement.[11] John McCain received 58% of this district's vote in the 2008 presidential election; under the newly drawn district lines, McCain would have carried the district with 63% of the vote.[12]

In the 3rd quarter of 2011, Cotton reported raising $343,000 in donations.[13]

In September 2011, the Democratic Party of Arkansas attacked Cotton for an article written 13 years earlier, in which he questioned the value of the Internet as a teaching tool in the classroom.[14] Cotton has since stated that he believes the Internet has matured significantly over the past decade and has become a "vital tool for education and daily life" unlike the Internet of 1998.[15]

Beth Anne Rankin, the 2010 Republican nominee, and John Cowart were the only other GOP candidates in the race after candidate Marcus Richmond dropped out in February 2012.[16] In the primary on May 22, Cotton won the nomination, with 57% of the vote to Rankin's 38%.[17]

Cotton carries the support of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee.[18]

On election day, November 6, Cotton defeated State Senator Gene Jeffress, 59%-37%. He will be only the second Republican to represent this district since Reconstruction. With his election, and the re-election of fellow Republicans Rick Crawford, Tim Griffin and Steve Womack, this marks the first time since Reconstruction the Republicans have swept all of the congressional districts in Arkansas.[19]

Tenure [edit]

On January 3, 2013, Cotton was sworn into the U.S. House by House Speaker John Boehner.[20] As a freshman, he has been considered as a rising star in the Republican Party. Politico named him "most likely to succeed."[21][22]

Committee assignments [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ http://www.congress.org/bio/id/17456
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h http://combatveteransforcongress.org/cand/2763
  4. ^ "A RISING POLITICAL STAR IN ARKANSAS". cottonforcongress.com. October 22, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2013. 
  5. ^ a b "Tom Cotton About". www.cottonforcongress.com. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2011-12-05. 
  6. ^ Pollack, Joel (14 December 2011). "http://biggovernment.com/jpollak/2011/12/14/meet-tom-cotton-farmer-scholar-lawyer-warrior/". Big Government. Retrieved 9 January 2012. 
  7. ^ Baumann, Nick. "The GOP Candidate Who Wants Journos Jailed". Mother Jones. Retrieved 9 January 2012. 
  8. ^ "Cotton makes early noise in 4th District race". www.thecitywire.com. 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2011-12-01. 
  9. ^ "Tom Cotton About". www.cottonforcongress.com. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2011-12-02. 
  10. ^ http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tom-cotton/7/685/875
  11. ^ "Rep. Mike Ross to retire". www.thehill.com. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2011-09-15. 
  12. ^ "Political Grit". www.theweeklystandard. 2011-08-08. Retrieved 2011-12-01. 
  13. ^ "4th District GOP candidates report fundraising". www.arkansasnews.com. 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-12-05. 
  14. ^ "Tom Cotton learns value of Internet". www.arktimes.com. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-09-16. 
  15. ^ "Ark. House hopeful's college writings targeted". www.chron.com. 2011-09-01. Retrieved 2011-12-01. 
  16. ^ "GOP's Richmond drops out of 4th district race". www.fox16.com. 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2012-05-12. 
  17. ^ "Cotton wins south Arkansas Republican congressional primary; Democrats head to runoff". www.therepublic.com. 2012-05-23. Retrieved 2012-05-24. 
  18. ^ "Candidates endorsed by Eagle Forum PAC, October 31, 2012". eagleforum.org. Retrieved November 3, 2012. 
  19. ^ "Hutchinson expects to run for Ark. governor in '14". San Francisco Chronicle. January 4, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013. 
  20. ^ "Representative Cotton Sworn Into Office". cotton.house.gov. January 3, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2013. 
  21. ^ http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/freshman-yearbook-most-likely-to-85703.html?hp=l2
  22. ^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2012/12/05/tom-cotton-no-ordinary-freshman-congressman/

External links [edit]

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Mike Ross		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 4th congressional district
2013-Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Paul Cook
R-California		 United States Representatives by seniority
375th		 Succeeded by
Kevin Cramer
R-North Dakota
Senators
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(ordered by district)
Other states'
delegations
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