# William Cohen

William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American politician, lawyer and author from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979–1997), and as Secretary of Defense (1997–2001) under Democratic President Bill Clinton.Described as "a Republican moderate from Maine, something of a maverick centrist" by David Halberstam, Cohen had very good working relations with President Clinton and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger and "almost ideal" collaboration with the Joint Chiefs of Staff; however, he often clashed with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, whom he saw as "a grandstander, too outspoken on policy matters and too eager to use military force". == Early life and education == Cohen was born in Bangor, Maine.