Talk:William Cohen

message: To:  Whom it concerns
I just visited this page to find that it had been vandalized by redirecting it to a site which is most unsuitable for minors... please correct this.
William Cohen, a well documented denier of the Armenian Genocide stood in front of TV cameras at the National Press Club in Washington on November 13th, 2007 to declare that he with Madeleine Albright are co-chairing a new "Genocide Prevention Task Force." As soon as the two former high-ranking officials finished delivering their opening remarks at the press conference, skeptical members of the press and activists questioned their sincerity and pointed out their hypocrisy. This exchange was covered extensively by CNN, AFP, AP, The Jerusalem Post, Huffington Post.
This doesn't seem very fair (pointing out hypocrisy, accusing him of being a Holocaust denier).  Seems a bit harsh for an encyclopedia.  I don't know how to do anything on this though, so I just thought maybe this would bring it to someone's attention  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.204.191.184 (talk) 03:09, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Vandalism 

message: Whoever linked Cohen's quote to the article on "total war" - very clever.  I changed it to the more appropriate "Conscription in the United States," although I appreciate the effort you are putting into vandalism (as much as I personally agree with your sentiment).
I've just finished a book review of his latest, "Love in Black and White." He makes it clear that though he is ethnically Jewish, he is not a practicing Jew. (The info below about him being denied a bar mitzvah is correct. It was very hurtful to him at the time, as he was top of his class in Hebrew school.) He gives no hint of being a Unitarian. From what I gather about him, he'd probably reply to this question by asking, "Why is it important?"Editunited 16:40, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quote from Fox News 

message: What are they? One would think he's somewhat of a moderate. --BDD 00:49, 18 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Political Beliefs 

message: Why was he in the ROTC for only a day?  I believe this needs further explanation...  It is both unusual and worthy of mention, especially because he was Secretary of the Defense.  Stevenmitchell 14:29, 11 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've Googled it and can't find anything.  It should also be mentioned that while he may have served only one day in the ROTC, he served on both the Senate Intelligence and Senate Armed Services Committees.  I'm going to remove this statement unless a source can be provided. --tomf688 (talk - email) 15:17, 11 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: ROTC

message: What is the logic behind having a clearly aged photograph of William Cohen from his DOD days, instead of an updated one that also symbolizes what Cohen's life is doing now--and not his past?  These pages are supposed to be kept current; not as paens to past glories.  I understand the official photo being the gateway photo when there is none other availble; but there is.  The official photo is very dated--I feel it should be replaced with whatever the most current that is available.  For anyone.  I'm not going to wrestle over it, but there's my two cents.  --DavidShankBone 00:48, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: My mistake - I shot off my mouth by only lookiing at the history.  I think the wife photo does work better under recent, and I noticed the move of the older photo.  The people who care about this page may want to tone down the px's on the photos so they don't overwhelme the text, just as a suggestion.  Sorry for not looking before writing.  --DavidShankBone 00:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've taken out an image and spaced them out more.  I also uploaded your images to the commons.  Thanks for the contributions. --tomf688 (talk - email) 01:26, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

text: My reasoning behind keeping the DoD photo first is the photo represented pertains directly to infobox below it.  If there were no infobox then I think it would be appropriate to show a current photo of Cohen to lead the article.  For example, if one goes to Bill Clinton's page you would not see the lead photo of an aged president but his official portrait.  That is the standard throughout wikipedia and should remain for consistency.BCV 06:36, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

text: The Bill Clinton thing misses the point, but I would rather see an aged person than the official presidential portrait.  But I would also prefer to see a portrait, and not one of him walking down a tarmac, etc.  There is a second point here:  Two editors have voice a preference (one editor by keeping it the lead photograph but moving the husband/wife shot) for it to be at the lead, and one editor--you--keep reverting it back without discussing this issue further.  Why are you being so heavy-handed when for now I see no other support for your position.  We are supposed to be making these decisions by consensus, not revert wars, which is what you are engaging in.  If everyone else wants a photo at the lead that no longer resembles the article's subject, then can I hear them voiced?  Because to me it doesn't make sense.  The Bill Clinton photo issue may be because there is a lack of un-copyrighted portrait work that we can use, so the federal government issued ones are convenient.  But that doesn't make them preferred when more updated photographs become available.  But right now, there are two editors who have made edits with the new photo in the infobox and one editor who wants it kept.  So where do we go from here, since you are determined to have your way while the discussion takes place.  --DavidShankBone 16:01, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

text: That argument does not hold up in the context of figures in government.  Go try to replace a photo of any living former President with an up to date photo and it will be reverted back as it should.  It must be about the photos and not the content because the last photos were switched without regard for the captioning.  Cohen may move on in his life but until he holds an office higher than DoD, it is his Pentagon career that will most likely define him.  Again your photo is included in the section about his post government career which is the appropriate section for it.  The infobox should contain his official DoD photo and be at the top of the page. BCV 16:05, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

text: The photo's of the book signing are good, and have a place in wikipedia, that place is in the recent years section not in the Secretary of Defense info box.  Of course we could move the info box, delete it or put a photo of William Cohen in it that is not him when he was secretary of defense.  I choose to put a government issued photo of William Cohen when he was Secretary of Defense in the Secretary of Defense info box that should not be a controversial issue. BCV 16:14, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Photographs

message: BCV and I are having a months-long dispute as to whether a 10 year old photograph should be used, or a current photograph.  I would like other editors to weigh in on whether they think an old photograph, or a new photograph, should be used as the introductory photograph.  
1.  William Cohen is currently writing fiction, and he no longer resembles the photograph from his Defense Secretary days in the 1990s.  
2.  An encyclopedia is only as useful as it is updated.  The introductory photograph should be the most updated photograph available.  Available - just because other Defense Secretaries don't have updated photographs doesn't mean they aren't merited - it means Caspar Weinberger hadn't done anything photo-worthy, and that a person who did take a photograph doesn't think to upload it to Wikipedia.
3.  BCV is deciding his Secretary of Defense days are the most important, when perhaps his TWENTY years in the Senate (as opposed to FOUR in the Pentagon) or his new career as a fiction writer are more fruitful, important, or have more affect on people.
I'd be interested for other editors besides myself and BCV to weigh in with whether an encyclopedia should have an outdated photograph instead of one of a citizen who continues to thrive in new career directions.  What would YOU want if you were William Cohen?  Having heard from his wife Janet Langhart, I know the answer.  And if I was William Cohen, like him, I would not want an outdated photograph.  --DavidShankBone 15:29, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I support the more recent photo. I think it looks better. crz crztalk 22:32, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

text: I support the flag-less photo (more recent I assume).  I think a photo with the flags behind it immediately creates the impression that he is still a part of the government.  Photos of that sort are pretty standard for folks with jobs like his, but they don't necessarily represent the person -- they are so staid, and official.  If he's now pursuing a different career, I think using that photo is probably about as fair as using my "goth chick" high school photo to represent me now (!!!!)  My 2 cents. Dina 22:39, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

text: The composition on the new photo is good considering the setting.  It's under a free license, too.  Sure, use it. · j e r s y k o talk · 22:56, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

text: Coming late to the argument, but the newer photograph is clearly better for our purposes. It's fine to have outdated photos connected to the article, either in a gallery or via a link to Commons, but the primary one we use to illustrate the subject should only be an outdated one if there is no better or at least equal alternative. (As an example of a less-desirable alternative, we might have a group photo or one with just his wife or a poorly-profiled one or a pratfall and so forth. But this portrait falls under none of those.) --Dhartung | Talk 16:48, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

text: This update is 11 years past the previous one, but having seen Cohen interviewed today on the BBC, my curiosity about him brought me to this page. At 78, he now looks older--but not bad for that age! https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/William_Cohen_2017.jpg  I leave it to others more engaged on this topic to decide if this photo is a better update.BillDeeUS (talk) 22:57, 20 December 2018 (UTC)
thread_title: William Cohen's Photograph

message: * Re: He was "assistant editor-in-chief of the American Trial Lawyers Association".  Perhaps this statement should read "assistant editor-in-chief of the American Trial Lawyers Association's weekly journal, TRIAL Magazine".  (See the 'publications' section at .)  One can be editor of a publication, not an organization. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DCico (talk • contribs) 19:54, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Disputed

message: It might be noted that Cohen was inside the U.S. Holocaust museum within earshot of the 2009 U.S. Holocaust Museum shooting.  I don't have a citation for it, but he's giving an interview on CNN. RandomCritic (talk) 20:40, 10 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Museum shooting

message: How come?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.12.91.242 (talk) 12:22, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Blue-eyed Jewish person? 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: It does seem to be a meme on the internet that William Cohen was the first Republican to serve as Secretary of Defense under a Democratic president.  But, the purveyors of that meme have forgotten Robert McNamara, and Robert Lovett.  Its true that McNamara changed to the Democratic party late in the 1970s, but he was a solid Republican when he served John F. Kennedy.  And, Lovett served Harry Truman.
Also, there were Republican Secretaries of War and the Navy under Democrats, for instance Franklin Delano Roosevelt, before the creation of the Department of Defense.
Therefore, I see the current statement in the article about whether Cohen was the first or second such Republican Secretary of Defense serving a Democratic president as being a trivial and unnecessary detail.
So, in hope of forestalling an edit war that can actually be supported on both sides by reliable sources (both of which are just wrong, in this case), I am deleting that detail.
Shortsword (talk) 20:00, 5 June 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  How many Republicans have served Democratic presidents as Secretary of Defence?