Photos of the late Mississippi senator from the CQ Roll Call archives
Portrait of Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., from 1985. A year earlier, he easily won a high-profile race for re-election over former Democratic Gov. William F. Winter. (CQ Roll Call file photo)
Former Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran died Thursday at the age of 81. The mannerly former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee — where he was a dependable provider for his home state — spent more than four decades in Congress.
Cochran retired from the Senate in April 2018 after dealing with health issues. The longtime Republican lawmaker began his congressional career in the House, winning election to Mississippi’s old 4th District in 1972. After three terms, he ran and won a race for Senate in 1978, becoming the first Republican to win statewide office in the Magnolia State since Reconstruction.
Here are a few photos from the late senator’s years in Washington, as captured by CQ Roll Call’s photographers.
Cochran holds boxing gloves he gave to President George H.W. Bush during a meeting in Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole’s office in August 1992. The gloves read “Beat Democratic Congress.” (Laura Patterson/CQ Roll Call file photo)From left, Dole, Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Cochran pose for a photo in Dole’s office in February 1995. (Laura Patterson/CQ Roll Call file photo)Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Cochran talk about storm damage in Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call file photo)Cochran, then the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, unveils a portrait of himself during a reception in the Russell Senate Office Building in March 2006. (Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call) Cochran and Indiana Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., head to the Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch in the Capitol in December 2009. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call file photo)Cochran speaks to reporters in the Ohio Clock Corridor of the Capitol in July 2010. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)Senators wearing seersucker suits pose for a group photo in the Senate Reception Room in the Capitol in June 2011 — the third Thursday of June is traditionally called Seersucker Thursday. From left, Cochran, Susan Collins of Maine, Mike Lee of Utah, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Roger Wicker of Mississippi. (Bill Clark/Roll Call file photo)Cochran greets Claire Webby, 7, as her sister Grace, 9, and mother Laurie look on, as he campaigns in Olive Branch, Miss., on May 30, 2014. Cochran went on to survive a tough GOP primary on his way to winning a seventh Senate term. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
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