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Edward F. Cox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Edward Cox, see Edward Cox (disambiguation).

Edward F. Cox
Cox and his wife Tricia Nixon shortly after their marriage in 1971
Chairman of the New York Republican Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 13, 2023
Preceded byNick Langworthy
In office
September 29, 2009 – July 1, 2019
Preceded byJoseph Mondello
Succeeded byNick Langworthy
Personal details
Born
Edward Ridley Finch Cox

(1946-10-02) October 2, 1946 (age 78)
Southampton, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
​
(m. 1971)​
ChildrenChristopher Nixon Cox
RelativesRichard Nixon (father-in-law)
Donald Nixon (uncle-in-law)
Edward Nixon (uncle-in-law)
Arthur Nixon (uncle-in-law)
Harold Nixon (uncle-in-law)
Julie Nixon Eisenhower (sister-in-law)
Education

Edward Ridley Finch Cox (born October 2, 1946) is an American attorney, politician and the current chairman of the New York Republican State Committee. He is married to Tricia Nixon Cox, daughter of President Nixon and Pat Nixon.

Early life and family

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Cox was born to Howard Ellis Cox and Anne Crane Delafield (Finch) Cox in Stony Brook Southampton Hospital in Southampton, New York. He attended Westhampton Beach Elementary School and Allen-Stevenson School in New York City.[1] Cox is named for his grandfather, Judge Edward R. Finch, a prominent New York jurist who served as a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court (1915–1943), Presiding Justice of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, and Associate Judge on the New York Court of Appeals.[2] His father, Howard Ellis Cox, was a decorated World War II aviator, New York lawyer, and Long Island real estate developer.[3]

Cox graduated from the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (1968)[4] and Harvard Law School (1972).[5] Cox was battalion commander of his Army ROTC unit at Princeton where he put together and accredited a seminar on war,[6] he completed officer and airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia and subsequently served as a reserve officer with the 11th Special Forces Group.[7][8]

Marriage

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In 1971, Cox married Tricia Nixon, the daughter of President Richard Nixon, in a White House Rose Garden ceremony.[9] The wedding was described in Life Magazine as "a union 'akin to American royalty'".[10] Edward and Tricia Cox have a son, Christopher Nixon Cox.[11] The Coxes reside on Long Island, New York.[12]

Private sector

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Cox started his legal career at Cravath Swaine & Moore, and after serving as a general counsel in the Reagan Administration,[13] was a corporate partner in the Donovan Leisure firm and subsequently a member of the management committee and the chairman of the corporate department[14] at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.[4]

His law practice has covered a wide variety of transactions and representations including securities litigations, project financings, M&A, startups, IPOs, municipal financings, securitizations, private placements and bankruptcies.[15]

He is a member of a Bank of America advisory committee.[citation needed]

Cox served as a director for 35 years of Noble Energy[16] which is an upstream independent oil and natural gas company.[17]

To attempt to stay in shape, Cox participates in an Olympic-distance triathlon each year, and he swims, bikes and runs whenever possible in preparation. He ran and finished the New York City Marathon in 2017.[18]

Government service

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From 1981 to 1983 Cox served in the Reagan Administration as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of a government corporation, The United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation.[19][20] He has served Presidents Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush in the international arena.[21] He has visited with numerous officials, including heads of state or government, in more than 30 countries including China, Russia, Israel, Cuba, England, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.[22][23]

He was commissioner of the Commission on Judicial Nomination (nominating candidates for New York's highest court, 1991 to 2009)[24] and Chairman of the New York Council of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (1995 to 2008).[25]

He was a Trustee of the State University of New York (SUNY) from 1995 to 2009.[26] From 1999 to 2009 as Co-Chairman and Chairman of SUNY's Charter School Committee, Cox founded SUNY's Charter School Institute and led the authorization of fifty charter schools.[27][28][29][30][31]

In 2006, Cox served as the chairman of newly elected Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's environmental and energy transition team.[32]

Philanthropic involvement

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In K-12 education, Cox has served as a director of Student Sponsor Partnership, which supports and mentors parochial high school students, since its founding in 1985.[33] He is also a director of the New York Institute for Special Education which has been a leading school for the blind since 1831.[34]

Cox has served for more than 15 years as Chairman of the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.[21]

He has led an American delegation to, and presented at, Ditchley conferences, and is a director of Ditchley's American Advisory Board.[35]

Publications

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His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal,[36][37] The New Republic,[29] the Antitrust Law Journal[38] and the New York Post,[39] and in 1968 and 1969 he researched and co-authored The Nader Report on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which spawned "Nader's Raiders" and the rejuvenation of the FTC as a consumer advocate.[40]

Political involvement

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Cox has assisted Republican candidates in New York at all levels in numerous election cycles. In the 1994 state election, Cox played a key role in electing George Pataki Governor and Dennis Vacco Attorney General.[4]

Cox was rumored to be considering a run for Governor of New York in 2006 if then-Gov. George Pataki opted not to seek re-election. Pataki did not run again, but Cox later chose instead to seek the seat held by incumbent U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton (D) in the 2006 New York U.S. Senate election.[41] However, after Pataki endorsed a rival Republican--Westchester County District Attorney Jeanine Pirro—for Senate, Cox announced on October 14, 2005, that he was no longer running.[42]

In 2007 and 2008, Cox chaired John McCain's presidential campaign efforts in the State of New York.[43]

New York Republican Party Chairman (2009–2019)

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Cox was elected chairman of the New York State Republican Committee at the committee's meeting on September 30, 2009.[44] Cox had a seven-point "agenda for the future" when elected chairman:

  1. to be "a full-time chairman";
  2. to win election victories in the 2009 local elections;
  3. to re-build the state party's staff;
  4. to "re-establish credibility" of the state party nationally;
  5. to raise money;
  6. to recruit a "slate of candidates up and down the ballot"; and
  7. to win statewide elections in 2010.[45]

Cox announced on May 20, 2019, that he was joining President Donald Trump's re-election campaign and that he would not run for re-election as Chairman of the New York Republican State Committee stating, "Serving as Chairman of the NYGOP over the last ten years has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my life, and I will continue to actively help elect more Republicans here in New York'".[46] On July 1, 2019, Nick Langworthy, the Erie County Chairman succeeded Ed Cox as Chairman the New York State Republican Committee.[47]

References

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  1. ^ "Easthamptonstar.com: Chris Cox, Politics, Family, Legacy". Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  2. ^ The New York Times, April 16, 1965
  3. ^ Lynch, Ray. "HOWARD COX, 76, PROMINENT LAWYER". Sun-Sentinel.com.
  4. ^ a b c Hoffman, Jan (July 22, 1999). "PUBLIC LIVES; Steady Eddie Cox, the Discreet Son-in-Law". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Ed Cox to speak at GOP 'meet the candidates' event". The Saratogian. October 6, 2009.
  6. ^ "The Groom: Ed's suitable consort". Boca Raton News. June 11, 1971. p. 7.
  7. ^ "State GOP chair to attend Candidates night". The Record. October 6, 2009.
  8. ^ "Member Profile: Mr. Edward F. Cox". Republican National Lawyers Association. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  9. ^ Breidenbach, Michelle (September 10, 2014). "Nixon son-in-law Ed Cox on the difference between Watergate and today's opponent bugging scandal". syracuse.com.
  10. ^ "Ed Cox and the Republican Civil War". The New York Observer. April 12, 2011.
  11. ^ Callahan, Maureen (May 16, 2010). "Nixon grandson Chris Cox scandalizes Long Island society".
  12. ^ Herald, JIM ECKSTROM Olean Times. "A change for New York GOP?". Olean Times Herald.
  13. ^ Lewak, Doree (November 16, 2019). "Nixon's son-in-law Ed Cox says Trump will 'fight right through' impeachment".
  14. ^ "Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission 90th Anniversary Symposium 90th Anniversary Symposium" (PDF). ftc.gov.
  15. ^ "Practice Areas". Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.
  16. ^ "Noble Energy". www.nblenergy.com.
  17. ^ "EX-99.1". www.sec.gov.
  18. ^ "New York Road Runners Official Race Results". results.nyrr.org.
  19. ^ Hagerty, James R. (December 30, 2016). "After Success in Real Estate, Edward Noble Found Federal Job Frustrating". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  20. ^ "U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session, May 18, 1983". U.S. Government Printing Office. March 27, 1983 – via Google Books.
  21. ^ a b "Edward F. Cox". Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  22. ^ "2010 Richard Nixon Legacy Lecture by Edward F. Cox". YouTube.
  23. ^ "Remembering Richard Nixon | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org.
  24. ^ CJN Vacancies. Press release nysegov.com
  25. ^ "Press Release - NYS Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation". parks.ny.gov.
  26. ^ Healy, Patrick (January 26, 1996). "Newly Appointed Trustees Stir Up Public Colleges". The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  27. ^ Bounds, Mary; Walker, Wyatt (September 1, 2014). Light Shines in Harlem: New York's First Charter School and the Movement It Led. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781613747735 – via Google Books.
  28. ^ "Edward F.Cox". YouTube.
  29. ^ a b "Edward F. Cox". New America Alliance.
  30. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ Legislative Review of Charter Schools and SUNY’s Designation as a Charter School Authorizer suny.edu
  32. ^ "Cuomo's Transition Team". The New York Observer. November 20, 2006.
  33. ^ "Leadership". Student Sponsor Partners.
  34. ^ "Board of Managers – Board of Managers – The New York Institute For Special Education". www.nyise.org. Archived from the original on August 6, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  35. ^ "Mr Edward Cox | Ditchley Foundation". www.ditchley.com.
  36. ^ Shepard, Ed Cox and Geoff (December 29, 2019). "Opinion | This Isn't Your Father's Impeachment". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  37. ^ Cox, Ed (March 24, 2014). "Rigging Campaign Finance to Rig Elections". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  38. ^ "Vol. 72, No. 3, 2005 of Antitrust Law Journal on JSTOR". Antitrust Law Journal.
  39. ^ "Ed Cox | New York Post". Retrieved January 27, 2024.
  40. ^ Yudof, Mark G. (November 30, 1969). "The Nader Report". The New York Times.
  41. ^ "Nixon son-in-law plots N.Y. Senate bid". msnbc.com. May 17, 2005.
  42. ^ Hernandez, Raymond; Cooper, Michael (October 15, 2005). "Pirro's Path to Republican Nomination Is Clearer". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
  43. ^ "McCain advisers quit Chris Cox campaign - Maggie Haberman - POLITICO.com". www.politico.com.
  44. ^ Hakim, Danny (September 29, 2009). "For Nixon In-Law, G.O.P. Post and a Giuliani Clash". New York Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  45. ^ Freedlander, David (April 14, 2010). "Ed Cox and the Republican Restoration". Capitol News. p. 17. Archived from the original on October 6, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  46. ^ "NY GOP Chair Ed Cox Stepping Down". www.wamc.org. May 20, 2019.
  47. ^ Klepper, David (July 1, 2019). "New York GOP Taps New Leader as Party Looks to Bounce Back". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
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Party political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the New York Republican Party
2009–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the New York Republican Party
2023–present 		Incumbent
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