William Sebastian Cohen (born 28 August 1940) is an author and American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as Secretary of Defense (1997–2001) under Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Cohen was born in Bangor, Maine. His mother, Clara, was of Protestant Irish ancestry, while his father, Reuben Cohen, was a Russian Jewish immigrant; the two owned the Bangor Rye Bread Co. Cohen attended Hebrew school as a child.
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William Sebastian Cohen (born 28 August 1940) is an author and American politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as Secretary of Defense (1997–2001) under Democratic President Bill Clinton.
Cohen was born in Bangor, Maine. His mother, Clara, was of Protestant Irish ancestry, while his father, Reuben Cohen, was a Russian Jewish immigrant; the two owned the Bangor Rye Bread Co. Cohen attended Hebrew school as a child.
After graduating from Bangor High School in 1958, Cohen attended Bowdoin College, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin in 1962.
While in high school and college Cohen was a basketball player, and was named to the Maine all-state high school and college basketball team, and at Bowdoin was inducted into the New England All-Star Hall of Fame. Cohen attended law school at the Boston University School of Law graduating with a LL.B (law degree) cum laude in 1965.
After graduating from law school, Cohen eventually earned...
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