Background
Cooksey was born in Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana Salle High School (Louisiana Salle Parish) in Olla, where his father operated a sawmill.
ophthalmologist politician representative
Cooksey was born in Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana Salle High School (Louisiana Salle Parish) in Olla, where his father operated a sawmill.
Doctor of Medicine, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, 1966. Practice medicine specializing in ophthalmology, Monroe, Louisiana, 1972-1996. Member Congress from 5th Louisiana District, 1996.
Member teaching staff Electronic Arts Conway Hospital, Monroe, 1972.
Visiting lecturer Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans, 1978. Assistant clinical professor Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans, 1979.
Degree in 1966. From 1967 until 1969, he was in the United States Air Force, largely in Texas but briefly in Thailand. He was in the Air Force Reserve from 1969 until 1972. He was elected to Congress in 1996 and represented Louisiana"s Fifth District for three terms.
Cooksey had edged past former United States. Representative Clyde C. Holloway of Forest Hill in Rapides Parish in the jungle primary.
In that campaign, Cooksey pledged to serve no more than three terms in the House, a pledge that he kept. Cooksey opposed abortion as a congressman but would not support efforts to address the issue through a constitutional amendment.
He said that the nation already had too many "federal bureaucrats" making and interpreting policy, and he distrusted the use of constitutional amendments to address most public policies. In 2002, Cooksey was an unsuccessful candidate in the Republican primary for the United States Senate seat still held by the Democrat Mary Landrieu.
In the campaign, Cooksey made a derogatory remark about Arabs — comparing turbans to diapers fastened by fan belts — which was attacked by his opponents as racist.
He never overcame the blunder. In addition to the reelection of Landrieu, the Democrats temporarily regained Cooksey"s House seat in the same general election balloting. Democrat Rodney Alexander defeated Cooksey"s choice, his former aide, Dewey Lee Fletcher, by fewer than one thousand votes.
Born August 20, 1941) is an ophthalmologist who was a Republican member of the United States. House of Representatives from Louisiana from 1997 to 2003.
Married Dorothy Ann Grabill, December 30, 1969. Children: Karen, Carol Ann, Catherine.