Erle Cocke, Jr.

Egbert Erle Cocke, Jr. (May 10, 1921 - April 23, 2000) was primarily an international banking consultant and lobbyist, but he also did considerable work in business management consulting and public relations consulting. He was co-founder with Brigadier General Eugene Phillips (born 1917) of Cocke & Phillips International Corporation, a banking consulting and lobbying firm founded in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Cocke was President of Cocke & Phillips, but Phillips (still living in 2012) was actively associated with the firm only during the years 1976/1977-1984.

Cocke was a heavily decorated combat veteran of W. W. II. He also served as a Brigadier General in the Georgia Army National Guard, and he held the distinction of being the youngest-ever National Commander of the American Legion (1950-1951).

Biography

A native of Dawson, Georgia, Cocke was the son of Egbert Erle Cocke, Sr. (1895-1977) and India Elise Meadows (1892-1982).

E. E. Cocke, Jr. graduated from the University of Georgia (A.B., class of 1942), where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society. In 1947 he received an M.B.A. in Business Administration from Harvard University. In later years he received a total of three honorary doctorates from various universities. He married Madelyn Grotnes (1924-2001) on June 13, 1955 in Chicago. Madelyn had been a private secretary to Senator Joseph McCarthy until about three months before her marriage. Erle and Madelyn had three daughters - Elise Carol Cocke, Jennifer Aline Cocke (Mrs. Gregg Carpenter), and Carolyn Laurine Cocke (Mrs. Jeffrey M. Whitsett) - and a son (Egbert Erle Cocke, III), who died. Cocke and his wife Madelyn are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Career

Cocke was first commissioned an officer in the United States Army in 1942 and served in World War II. Later in 1951, when President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his duties during the Korean War, Cocke would voice his support of MacArthur. Awards he received during his career include the Silver Star, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart with three oak leaf clusters, as well as the Croix de guerre of France.

He served as Commander of the Georgia Department of the American Legion from October 1948 to September 1949, and he served as National Commander of the American Legion from Oct. 12, 1950 to Oct. 17, 1951.

Political career

After serving as an aide to Secretary of State George Marshall and Secretary of Defense Robert A. Lovett, Cocke was appointed a U.S. delegate to the United Nations General Assembly by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959. He held a position in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development during the administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1964 and 1966 he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for a seat in the United States House of Representatives to represent Georgia's 3rd congressional district.