Wes Cooley

Wes Cooley was born in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Cooley served in the United States Army from 1952 to 1954. He is described in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress as a rancher and the owner of a vitamin supplements company (Rose Laboratories). Mr. Cooley graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. degree in 1958.

Mr. Cooley was tagged with the nickname "Wanderin' Wes" when he first ran for the Oregon legislature, because he moved his mobile home barely inside the election district, just long enough to meet the residency requirement. Wes Cooley was elected to the Oregon State Senate in 1992. In 1994, Mr. Cooley was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican, from Oregon's second district.

In the One Hundred Fourth Congress, Rep. Cooley was an advocate of private property rights, American military superiority, tort reform to limit recovery by plaintiffs, and other planks of the Republican Party's so-called Contract with America. Rep. Cooley was liked by ranchers and by the mining and timber industries, and he was outspokenly hostile to environmentalists and environmental laws; he once compared U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents to the Gestapo.

Congressman Cooley became embroiled in controversy after it was alleged that he had made false claims about serving in the Korean War. Mr. Cooley maintained that he had indeed served in the Korean War, but that he was unable to prove his claim because he had served in the top-secret "Army Special Forces" and had been sworn to secrecy, and also because the records had been "destroyed in a fire." The officer Rep. Cooley claimed had led him in combat, Sgt. Major Clifford Poppy, refuted his claims. Sgt. Major Poppy's testimony was corroborated by three other former soldiers. Mr. Cooley became something of a national laughingstock, a caricature of the lying politician. He was a repeat subject of derisive coverage in News of the Weird, as it further came to light that he had "mistakenly" claimed a Phi Beta Kappa key and had fabricated or exaggerated achievements in a world motorcycle competition. Mr. Cooley alleged that the "liberal media" was engaging in "character assassination."

The embattled Mr. Cooley was additionally plagued by allegations that his wife, Rosemary Herron Cooley (whose first husband died in a military plane crash in 1965), continued to receive benefit checks from the government as the widow of a veteran, many years after she had married Mr. Cooley. Congressman Cooley awkwardly refused to answer questions about the date of his marriage, and his press spokesman explained that before Mr. Cooley could make a statement about when he got married, the congressman would first need to gather all the "facts at his disposal."

In light of these scandals and the ridicule he was suffering, Representative Cooley was persuaded to abandon his bid for re-election in 1996, although he had gained the Republican nomination when he ran unopposed in the primary. Several months earlier, in September 1995, Oregon Republicans had suffered another embarrassing Washington scandal when U.S. Senator Robert Packwood was forced to resign his office; Senator Packwood's vehement denials of any wrongdoing (after 29 women came forward to allege sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assaults by Senator Packwood) were eventually contradicted by his own lurid diaries boasting of his sexual conquests. Mr. Cooley's decision to withdraw from the 1996 congressional contest was a welcome relief to Oregon Republicans, as it allowed the Republican Party to substitute a much stronger nominee, former Congressman Bob Smith, who came out of retirement to win the 1996 election. Mr. Smith was induced to run in Mr. Cooley's stead, by a promise from House Republican leaders to restore Mr. Smith's seniority and make him chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

In 1997, Wes Cooley was indicted by a state grand jury in Salem, Oregon, and convicted in Marion County Circuit Court, of having lied on the 1994 voter information pamphlet about his service in the Army; based on a plea agreement, he was fined and sentenced to two years probation by Circuit Judge Albin Norblad. Although quite a few political figures have been convicted of various crimes over the years, and although it is widely believed that politicians routinely lie to voters, Mr. Cooley is reputed to be the only Member of Congress ever convicted specifically of lying to voters.

In 1998, Mr. Cooley made a "comeback" bid, seeking to win the 1998 Republican nomination for Congress.

Despite his 1997 conviction for lying, Mr. Cooley continued thereafter to assert that he had served in the Army Special Forces in the Korean conflict. The 1998 Oregon Voters Guide on the website of the Oregon Secretary of State says that the Cooley for Congress '98 campaign supplied the following information about Mr. Cooley's military service:
:"U.S. Army: Company L, 63rd Infantry; Basic Airborne, Fort Benning, GA; 25th Special Forces Operation Detachment; 10th Special Forces Group; HQ & HQ Company, Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, NC," and "U.S. Army, Special Forces; Veteran, Korean Conflict; Military Specialty of Demolition Specialist (MOS33533 - prefix "3" indicates completion of Special Combat Training)."

In the Republican primary election May 19, 1998, Wes Cooley received 6,156 votes (9.12%), which placed him third among the four candidates on the ballot.

In 2001, reports of a lawsuit between internet auction company eBay and a smaller competitor named bidBay stated that former Rep. Wes Cooley was a vice-president of bidBay. The same reports said that Mr. Cooley's 1997 conviction for lying had been set aside, or expunged, in 2000, under an Oregon law that rewards certain first-time offenders who successfully complete the terms of sentence.