Interview with John Sherman Cooper, April 27, 1980
Project: John Sherman Cooper Oral History Project
Interview Summary
The interview begins with a discussion of political events and issues of the early 1950s, including the shifting American foreign policy position on the Vietnam War. Additionally, Cooper discusses his views on TVA, relations with President Eisenhower, and his 1954 campaign for election to the Senate. Cooper's friendship and political rivalry with Alben Barkley is examined. How supportive the Republican Party was of Cooper's 1954 Senatorial campaign is considered. The interviewee's fight for individual rights in the Senate in 1953-1954 is explored. Cooper provides his opinion on his opposition to Albert Cole's appointment as Federal Housing Administrator, the Dennis Chavez controversy, as well as Cooper's opposition to the Mexican Farm Labor Act. Cooper then talks of Joseph McCarthy and the "Red Scare," Senator William Fulbright's opposition to McCarthy and Philip Jessup. McCarthy's censure by the Senate is also mentioned. Cooper discusses the award he was given by the political organization Americans for Democratic Action (ADA). To conclude the interview, Cooper details John Foster Dulles's Cold War policy of massive retaliation.Interview Accession
Interviewee Name
Interviewer Name
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Interview LC Subject
Cooper, John Sherman, 1901-1991 Cooper, John Sherman, 1901-1991--Interviews Politicians Politicians--United States Politics and government United States--Politics and government Vietnam War, 1961-1975 Tennessee Valley Authority Communism Cold War Communists Americans for Democratic ActionInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.Restriction
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
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Cooper, John Sherman Interview by William Cooper. 27 Apr. 1980. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Cooper, J.S. (1980, April 27). Interview by W. Cooper. John Sherman Cooper Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Cooper, John Sherman, interview by William Cooper. April 27, 1980, John Sherman Cooper Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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