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You are here: Home / Press Room / Council in the News / Board Member & ‘People’s Lobbyist’ David Cohen Dies at 79

December 1, 2015

Board Member & ‘People’s Lobbyist’ David Cohen Dies at 79

David Cohen, lobbyist for ‘public,’ rather than ‘special,’ interests, dies at 79

By Emily Langer for the Washington Post
18741696992_24795c8c77_oThe cause was a heart attack, said his son, Aaron Cohen.“I have never heard a parent say, ‘I want my child to be a lobbyist,’ ” Mr. Cohen once quipped, reflecting on the dim view commonly held of Washington insiders who use their savvy or clout to push their clients’ interests among policymakers.But Mr. Cohen saw himself and his colleagues not as representatives of special interests — as lobbyists for particular industries or groups are frequently described — but rather as advocates for what he thought to be the common good.

He joined Common Cause in 1971, a year after the nonpartisan organization was founded by John W. Gardner, a Republican who served as secretary of health, education and welfare in the Democratic administration of Lyndon B. Johnson. Mr. Cohen served as president of the organization from 1975 to 1981.

For more read this article in The Washington Post

Posted in: Council in the News, Press Room

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