Congressman for Tennessee 's 5th District
(Davidson, Wilson and Cheatham Counties)

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U.S. Congressman, 5th Congressional District of Tennessee, 2003-current

• Armed Services Committee (Air and Land Forces, Oversight and Investigations, and Terrorism and Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittees; Chairman of 2008 Roles and Missions panel) - the only Tennessee Representative on the Committee, oversees a $400 billion military budget
• Oversight and Government Reform Committee - oversees every federal agency with investigatory powers

Adjunct Professor, Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University, 1995-present

• Teaches health care policy to MBA and Executive MBA students

Founder, Brentwood Capital Advisors, 1999-2002

• Raised private capital for Tennessee companies

Managing Director, Equitable Securities, 1995-1999

• Private capital and public offerings for high-growth regional firms
• Sold to SunTrust Bank in 1998

• Energy and Commerce Committee and Budget Committee
• According to CQ Politics in America 1994, Cooper was an "accomplished dealmaker and a political moderate during his first tour in the House" and "a key player on a range of issues from telecommunications to clean air. He was a major figure in the Clinton-era debate on universal health care coverage."
• Youngest congressman in America at the time of first election at age 28

Attorney, Waller Lansden Dortch and Davis, Nashville, 1980-1982

Education

• J.D. Degree, Harvard Law School, 1980
• B.A./M.A. Degree, Oxford University, 1977 (Rhodes Scholar)
• B.A. Degree, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Morehead Scholar)

Personal Information

Cooper was born in Nashville and raised in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He is the son of the late Tennessee Governor Prentice Cooper (who served three two-year terms from 1939-1945) and Hortense Cooper.

Cooper has been married to the former Martha Hays of Gulfport, Mississippi, since 1985. They have three children: Mary, Jamie, and Hayes.