William Cohen - Recent Years

Recent Years

After leaving the Pentagon in 2001, Cohen founded The Cohen Group, a business consulting and lobbyist firm, with three Pentagon officials, Bob Tyrer, Jim Bodner and H.K. Park. Cohen was presented with the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service by the Woodrow Wilson Center of the Smithsonian Institution on March 7, 2002 in New York City.

On January 5, 2006, he participated in a meeting at the White House of former Secretaries of Defense and State to discuss United States foreign policy with Bush administration officials.

Cohen has written several books, including mysteries, poetry, and (with George Mitchell) an analysis of the Iran-contra affair. He is a Chairman Emeritus of the US-Taiwan Business Council. The Washington Post ran an article entitled "From Public Life to Private Business" about Cohen's abrupt transition to the business of Washington lobbying within "weeks of leaving office." It discussed the affairs of the Cohen Group in greater detail and while alleging no specific impropriety, took a generally negative view of the former Senator and Secretary of Defense.

On August 21, 2006, Cohen's novel, Dragon Fire, was released. The plot revolves around a secretary of defense who contends with a potential nuclear threat from a foreign country. He is also set to release a memoir with his wife, author Janet Langhart, entitled Love in Black and White. It is a memoir about race, religion, and the love Langhart and Cohen share over similar life circumstances and backgrounds. On August 22, 2006, Cohen appeared on The Daily Show to promote his novel.

On August 25, 2006, Cohen was interviewed by Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends First, primarily to promote his new novel, but towards the end of the broadcast he said: "I think there should be a commitment to universal service. I think that only a few people are really committed to this war against terrorism.... We ought to have a real call to national service to commit ourselves to some form of public service...to put us on a war footing mentality."

On January 3, 2007, Cohen appeared on CNN to support John Shalikashvili's OpEd in support of ending the policy known as 'Don't ask, don't tell' saying, "The vast majority of service members are personally comfortable working and interacting with gays and lesbians, and there is only so long that Congress can ignore the evidence".

Cohen and Madeleine Albright are co-chairing a new "Genocide Prevention Task Force." Their appointment was criticized by Harut Sassounian and by the Armenian National Committee of America.