William Bourke Cockran

William Bourke Cockran
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 16th congressional district
In office
March 4, 1921  March 1, 1923
Preceded by Thomas F. Smith
Succeeded by John J. O'Connor
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 12th congressional district
In office
February 23, 1904  March 3, 1909
Preceded by George B. McClellan, Jr.
Succeeded by Michael F. Conry
In office
March 4, 1893  March 3, 1895
Preceded by Joseph J. Little
Succeeded by George B. McClellan, Jr.
In office
March 4, 1887  March 3, 1889
Preceded by Abraham Dowdney
Succeeded by Roswell P. Flower
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 10th congressional district
In office
November 3, 1891  March 3, 1893
Preceded by Francis B. Spinola
Succeeded by Daniel E. Sickles
Personal details
Born William Bourke Cockran
February 28, 1854
County Sligo, Ireland
Died March 1, 1923 (aged 69)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party Democratic[1]

William Bourke Cockran (February 28, 1854 – March 1, 1923), commonly known as Bourke Cockran, was a United States Representative from New York and a political orator. A Democrat, he advocated the repeal of the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forbade states from preventing U.S. citizens from voting on account of "race" or "color".[1]

Early life and education

Born in County Sligo, Ireland, he was educated in France and in his native country, and emigrated to the United States when seventeen years of age. He was a teacher in a private academy and principal of a public school in Westchester County, New York. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1876, and practiced in Mount Vernon, New York; two years later, he moved to New York City and continued the practice of law.

Career

Beginning in 1886, Cockran, a Democrat, was a frequent candidate for the US House of Representatives and won several times; he served a number of non-consecutive terms. Between terms, he concentrated on his New York law practice. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1884, 1892, 1904, and 1920. At the 1920 convention, he delivered the nominating speech for Al Smith.

Cockran was a member of the commission to revise the judiciary article of the New York Constitution in 1890. Cockran publicly broke with his party in 1896 for opposing the Free Silver platform of Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. Cockran campaigned instead for Republican presidential candidate William McKinley, which was considered a major factor in McKinley's victory.

In 1900, Cockran returned to the Democratic Party, supporting Bryan's second presidential campaign. Cockran returned to Congress in 1904 after he won a special election to fill the seat of George B. McClellan, Jr., who had resigned to become mayor of New York City.

He served his final years, 1921–1923, as a congressman, dying in Washington, D.C.. He is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York.

In 1895, Cockran, a friend of Britain's Churchill family and reputed one-time lover of Jennie Churchill, introduced her 20-year-old son, Winston Churchill, to American high society during Churchill's first trip to New York. Years later, as British prime minister, Churchill credited Cockran as his first political mentor and the chief role model for his own success as an orator.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Clarke, Thomas H.R.; McKay, Barney (1901). A Republican Text-Book for Colored Voters. Washington, D.C.: T.H.R. Clarke and B. McKay. Retrieved February 28, 2016. W. Bourke Cocharn, of New York, a leading Northern Democrat, has emphasized the above expression of Senator Tillman by advocating a repeal of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Thus the Democratic party North and South is joining hands to disfranchise the negro.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Bourke Cockran.
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Abraham Dowdney
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 12th congressional district

18871889
Succeeded by
Roswell P. Flower
Preceded by
Francis Spinola
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 10th congressional district

18911893
Succeeded by
Daniel Sickles
Preceded by
Joseph J. Little
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 12th congressional district

18931895
Succeeded by
George B. McClellan, Jr.
Preceded by
George B. McClellan, Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 12th congressional district

19041909
Succeeded by
Michael Conry
Preceded by
Thomas F. Smith
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 16th congressional district

19211923
Succeeded by
John J. O'Connor
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