Biography of Chairman Tom Cole
On Thursday, January 4, 2007, Representative Tom Cole, of Oklahoma's fourth district, was sworn in as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee for the 110th Congress.
Tom Cole became the Representative for Oklahoma's Fourth Congressional District on November 6th, 2002. During his tenure in the House Cole has established himself as a strong voice for the conservative views and values of the Fourth District. He is an advocate for a strong national defense, a defender of the interests of small business and taxpayers, a proponent of education at all levels and a leader on issues dealing with Native Americans and tribal governments. Cole was named as one of "Five Freshmen to Watch" by Roll Call at the outset of his congressional career.
Congressman Cole is a member of the House Armed Services Committee to which he was appointed in 2002. Cole also serves as a Deputy Majority Whip. In this role he helps line up the votes needed to pass the legislative agenda of the President and the House Republican Conference.
Cole is a nationally recognized GOP strategist. He has served as Executive Director (1979-81) and, later, as State Chairman (1985-89) of the Oklahoma Republican Party. In 1984 he was State Director of the Reagan Re-Election Campaign in Oklahoma. In 1988 he was Chairman of Oklahoma’s delegation to the Republican National Convention.
In the 1992 election cycle Cole was Executive Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, directing the GOP to a ten seat pick up in the House of Representatives and helping to lay the groundwork for the 1994 take over of Congress. Cole also acted as Chief of Staff to the Republican National Committee in George W. Bush’s successful run for the Presidency. He was deeply involved in the national advertising, voter turn out efforts, and the Florida Recount operation that secured Bush’s win as well as GOP control of both the House and Senate. Cole was also a member of the Bush-Cheney Transition Advisory Committee, serving on the energy subcommittee that worked with Secretary of Energy designate Spencer Abraham.
Cole has a significant background of service to his home state of Oklahoma. He has served as a District Director for former Congressman Mickey Edwards, a member of the Oklahoma State Senate, and as Oklahoma's first Republican Secretary of State. In this capacity he served as former Governor Frank Keating's chief legislative strategist and liaison to the state's federal delegation. Keating tapped Cole to lead Oklahoma's successful effort to secure federal funds to assist in the rebuilding of Oklahoma City in the wake of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19th, 1995.
A former college instructor in history and politics, Cole holds a B.A. from Grinnell College, an M.A. from Yale University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma. Cole has been a Thomas Watson Fellow and a Fulbright Fellow at the University of London. He currently serves on the national Board of the Fulbright Association. He is also a member of the board for the Aspen Institute.
Tom Cole is a fifth generation Oklahoman and an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation. He is currently the only Native American serving in Congress and was inducted in the Chickasaw Hall of Fame in 2004. Cole's late mother, Helen, is also a member of the Chickasaw Hall of Fame and served as a Republican state representative, state senator and mayor in her native state of Oklahoma. Cole's late father, John, served twenty years in the United States Air Force and worked an additional two decades as a civilian federal employee at Tinker Air Force Base. Tom and his wife Ellen, have one son, Mason, and reside in Moore, Oklahoma.
