https://www.ryanlarochelle.com/pagecv daily 0.75 2026-05-05 https://www.ryanlarochelle.com/teaching daily 0.75 2026-05-05 https://www.ryanlarochelle.com/research daily 0.75 2026-05-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/601f171df17bd81808064cd4/8d2b9a64-f8bb-4763-8c72-08a23f853d07/MS_0106_Favorites041.jpg Research - Drawing on more than a dozen oral history interviews with William S. Cohen, his colleagues, and staffers along with extensive analysis of Cohen’s personal papers which are archived at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library, I am currently preparing the first scholarly biography of Cohen’s public service career. The biography focuses on critical episodes that highlight Cohen’s bipartisanship, objective decision-making, commitment to the common good, and efforts to promote and secure democracy in the U.S. and abroad. Such episodes include his service as newly elected member of the House of Representatives, where he found himself sitting on the House Judiciary Committee in the midst of the Watergate crisis; his service on the Senate Select Committee during the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s; his nomination and appointment as Secretary of Defense by Democratic President Bill Clinton, and his recent outspoken criticism of former President Donald Trump. More Than a Pious Wish: William S. Cohen and the Perilous Path of American Democracy is currently under contract with the University Press of Kansas. The book’s title comes from a speech Cohen delivered during the Judiciary Committee hearings during the Watergate scandal. He stated, “Our laws and our Constitution are and they must be more than a pious wish, more than a sanctimonious recital of what we should prefer but will not insist upon because we who hold the public office are more than simply craftsmen and draftsmen who hammer out legislation for the benefit of the people of this country. We are the keepers of the flame, the symbol of this Nation’s ideals. And we do the greatest disservice when we allow that flame to be diminished or snuffed out.” I argue that for democracy in America to survive, political leaders need to take their oaths and duties seriously, as Cohen did. Photo courtesy of the William S. Cohen Institute, University of Maine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/601f171df17bd81808064cd4/1612654944090-UNPYB2NQOFA22MUCF6FC/995235_728898062018_390920553_n.jpg Research LBJ Library and Museum, Austin, TX. November 2013. https://www.ryanlarochelle.com/publicfacing-writing daily 0.75 2025-07-02 https://www.ryanlarochelle.com/for-students daily 0.75 2025-07-02 https://www.ryanlarochelle.com/home daily 1.0 2025-07-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/601f171df17bd81808064cd4/16589360-1778-44de-a712-6a6e6bc8a998/IMG_0646.jpeg Home - Photo courtesy of Olivia Schanck