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MSS 87-04

Inventory of the Papers of Edwin S. Cohen

Digitized Content

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Archives Record

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Dates

  • Creation: 1946-1989

Extent

  • 72 Linear feet
    160 boxes and 2 cartons

Abstract

Edwin S. Cohen papers (1946-1989) document relate to his work as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy and as Under Secretary of the Treasury for the Nixon administration. In addition, there is considerable documentation of his private law practice in New York and Washington, D.C., and of his teaching at the University of Virginia School of Law.

Access Restrictions

Access to some of the material in Series VII may be restricted. Otherwise, there are no restrictions.

Acquisition Information

Edwin S. Cohen began donating his papers to the Law Library in 1987.

Arrangement

The organization of the collection reflects its original folder headings and arrangement, as well as the sequence in which it was transferred to the library. The files are divided in eight series: the first six relate to Cohen's tenure in the Treasury Department; the seventh concerns teaching and law practice in general; and the eighth (and earliest) series of documents concerns the area of his law practice devoted to the mutual fund industry. The series are organized as follows:

  1. Series I: Tax Reform Act of 1969: 15 boxes: Reports, drafts, letters, including correspondence between Cohen and then-Senator George Bush; memoranda, hearings, etc. related to the Tax Reform Act of 1969.
  2. Series II: General Files: 35 boxes: Drafts, reports, memoranda and correspondence with persons and groups. Subjects include tax policy, depreciation, the Internal Revenue Service, pensions, and tax legislation.
  3. Series III: Foreign Files: 21 boxes: Drafts, reports, memoranda, letters and other papers. Primary subjects are international tax problems, the Domestic Internal Sales Corporation (DISC), and tax treaties.
  4. Series IV: Personal Files: 25 boxes: Congratulatory letters, invitations, personal correspondence and briefing books.
  5. Series V: Miscellaneous Files: 6 boxes: Reports, drafts, memoranda, confidential documents, and some international documents concerning DISC Basic Materials, Alumina Bauxite Pricing, Chilean Expropriation of Copper Mines and international monetary problems. Included are numerous memoranda to the Secretary and Undersecretary of the Treasury as well as for the President and his assistants.
  6. Series VI: Speech Files: 8 boxes: copies of speeches Cohen gave while at Treasury, some other materials related to the topic or the occasion, and recorded tapes of some speeches.
  7. Series VII: General Private Practice and Law School Files: 17 boxes and 2 cartons: Private practice files which include the cases involving client Hugo Neu, and the merger of the AFL and the NFL, the ABA Advisory Group Papers, and speeches; as well as teaching and personal files. Access to some of this material may be restricted.
  8. Series VIII: National Association of Investments Companies and Investment Company Institute: 28 boxes: Documents concerning Cohen's fifty-year association with the mutual fund industry beginning during his practice with Sullivan & Cromwell. The vast majority of these papers contain materials related to the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) and of the Investment Company Institute (ICI).

Biographical / Historical Note

Edwin S. Cohen was born in Richmond, Virginia, on 27 September 1914. He grew up in that city and at age fifteen entered the University of Richmond. Three years later he entered law school at the University of Virginia, where he was an excellent student and served on the editorial board of the Virginia Law Review. He received his law degree in 1936, before his twenty-first birthday.

After law school, Cohen went to New York and worked from 1936 to 1949 as an associate with Sullivan & Cromwell. There he began to specialize in taxation and investment matters, and afterward gave lectures on the subjects. In 1949 he formed the firm Root, Barrett, Cohen, Knapp and Smith with some of his former law classmates, and continued doing tax work for the mutual fund industry. He remained with that practice until 1965.

Cohen had always been interested in teaching, and in 1963 Dean Hardy Dillard offered him the opportunity to teach law at his alma mater. For two terms he commuted from New York City to Charlottesville twice a month to teach a tax course. After the second course, he was offered a visiting professorship and, a year later, an appointment to the faculty. In 1968, he was named to the Joseph M. Hartfield Chair.

In 1969, the Nixon administration designated Cohen Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy to work with Secretary of Treasury David M. Kennedy and Under Secretary Charles E. Walker. In 1972, he was appointed Under Secretary of the Treasury, serving in that position until his resignation in 1973.

After his stint in the Treasury Department, Cohen resumed teaching at Virginia and practicing law with Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Later, he became partner and senior counselor at the firm until his retirement in 1986.

Cohen served on numerous committees, task forces, councils, and clubs throughout his career. From the early 1950s, he acted as consultant in various tax matters for the American Law Institute. In 1956, he became part of a seven-member advisory group for the House Ways and Means Committee to consider the revision of the corporate tax rules in the federal tax law. He drafted a revised statute and a report explaining the group's recommendations for corporations, partnerships, estates, trusts, and tax administration.

As a young tax lawyer in New York, he was part of the Tax Forum, a group of junior tax lawyers that presented papers on tax subjects once a month. Later, as a senior lawyer, he was a member of the Tax Club. His participation in the work of the ABA included membership in the Section of Taxation, of which he became chairman in 1956 and member of the governing council in 1958. In the 1960s, he served on a number of federal advisory groups or task forces: in 1965, President Johnson's Task Force to Improve the World-Wide Competitive Effectiveness of American Business; in 1967, the advisory group for the Commissioner of Internal Revenue; and in 1968, the Task Force on Federal Tax Policy to make recommendations to President-elect Nixon. Between 1968-1971 he worked with the legislators of Virginia, first as a counselor for the Virginia Income Tax Commission, and later as a member of the Virginia Income Tax Conformity Study Commission. In addition, Cohen was a member of the American College Tax Counsel, American Judicature Society, D.C. Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, Order of the Coif, Raven Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Delta Epsilon, and Phi Epsilon Pi, among many others.

Mr. Cohen died on January 12, 2006.

Physical Description

72 linear feet, or 160 boxes and 2 cartons

Preferred Citation

Papers of Edwin S. Cohen, MSS 87-4, Box Number, Special Collections, University of Virginia Law Library.

Scope and Content

The vast majority of the documents (72 linear feet, or 160 boxes and 2 cartons) document his position as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy and as Under Secretary of the Treasury for the Nixon administration. In addition there is considerable documentation of his work in private practice and teaching.

The organization of the collection reflects its original folder headings and arrangement, as well as the sequence in which it was transferred to the library. The files are divided in eight series: the first six relate to Cohen's tenure in the Treasury Department; the seventh concerns teaching and law practice in general; and the eighth (and earliest) series of documents concerns the area of his law practice devoted to the mutual fund industry.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.