David O. Cooke

David O. Cooke
David O. Cooke
	Official portrait
Director of Administration and Management
	In office; November 4, 1971 – June 22, 2002
President	Richard Nixon; Gerald Ford; Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan; George H. W. Bush; Bill Clinton; George W. Bush;
Secretary of Defense	; Full list Donald H. Rumsfeld; ;
Personal details
Born	David Ohlmer Cooke; August 31, 1920; Buffalo, New York
Died	June 22, 2002 (aged 81)
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Spouse	Marion McDonald (m. 1950; d. 1999)
Children	3
Education	Captain
Battles/wars	World War II

David Ohlmer "Doc" Cooke

Director of Administration and Management, and as Director of Washington Headquarters Services. He was also responsible for administering the oath of office

for many key department officials.

Early life

Cooke was born in

State University of New York at Albany in 1942. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and later earned his law degree from The George Washington University in 1950.^[2]

Cooke went back on active duty in 1951 and served in a number of posts until he retired as a Navy captain in 1968.

Government career

Cooke had a federal government career of more than 45 years in the Pentagon from 1957 to 2002. Notable positions he served in include Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Administration from 1971 to 1988, Director of the Washington Headquarters Services since 1977, and Director of Administration and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense since 1988.

Cooke was involved with Defense Department management issues since 1958, when he served on Defense Secretary

Neil McElroy's task force on Department of Defense reorganization. He served under Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and helped institute changes in departmental management. Following his Navy retirement, Cooke headed the Department's Office of Organizational and Management Planning, a job that evolved into his final post. In this position, Cooke was responsible for the physical plant and personnel administration of the Pentagon. His responsibilities for security, maintenance, and operations in the building earned him the title "Mayor" - the phrase "Mayor of the Pentagon" had often been used to refer to him during his tenure,^[3] a nickname that continued to be used for those who held the position after him, including Raymond F. DuBois.^[4]

William S. Cohen presents Cooke with the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service

, January 1999.

Death and legacy

On June 22, 2002, Cooke died from injuries that were a result of a

car accident on June 6. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia

, overlooking the Pentagon. His wife of 52 years, Marion McDonald Cooke, died in 1999. The couple had raised three children, Michele C. Sutton of Springfield, David Cooke and Lot Cooke, both of Fairfax. He also had two grandchildren at the time of his death. Elizabeth M. Cooke, who was born in 2000, and David B. Cooke who was born in 2002 a week before Cooke's death (both children from David O. Cooke Jr.).

In 2005, the "David O. Cooke Excellence in Public Administration Award" was established in Cooke's honor to recognize a DoD employee with three to 10 years of federal service who occupies a non-managerial position and exhibits great potential as a future federal executive.

Recognitions

Cooke received numerous awards for his work. He received the

John O. Marsh Public Service Award (2000); the Senior Executives Association Board of Directors Award (2001); and the American Society for Public Administration Elmer B. Staats Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Service (2002).^[5]

References

^ Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on Active Duty. Bureau of Naval Personnel. January 1, 1966. p. 501. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
^ "David O. Cooke". Hearings Regarding the Administration of the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 and the Federal Civilian Employee Loyalty-security Program: Hearings, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session [and Ninety-second Congress, First Session], Part 3. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1971. p. 2718. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
^ "The Mayor of the Pentagon's 130-year legacy". 23 May 2012.
YouTube

^ David O. Cooke, 'Mayor of the Pentagon' Dies Archived 2013-04-09 at archive.today. DefenseLINK News, United States Department of Defense. June 25, 2002. (public domain)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David O. Cooke.

Presentation of the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service to David O. "Doc" Cooke, As Delivered by Secretary of Defense
William S. Cohen
, The Pentagon Auditorium, Thursday, January 21, 1999

Memorial Tribute For DAVID O. "DOC" COOKE. Washington Headquarters Services. July 12, 2002. (public domain)

DoD Recognizes Exceptional Civilian Employees. Department of Defense, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. November 16, 2005.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_O._Cooke&oldid=1168341426"

[1] Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and Reserve Officers on Active Duty. Bureau of Naval Personnel. January 1, 1966. p. 501. Retrieved 2021-10-10.

[2] "David O. Cooke". Hearings Regarding the Administration of the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 and the Federal Civilian Employee Loyalty-security Program: Hearings, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session [and Ninety-second Congress, First Session], Part 3. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1971. p. 2718. Retrieved 2021-10-10.

[3] "The Mayor of the Pentagon's 130-year legacy". 23 May 2012.

[4] YouTube

[5] David O. Cooke, 'Mayor of the Pentagon' Dies Archived 2013-04-09 at archive.today. DefenseLINK News, United States Department of Defense. June 25, 2002. (public domain)

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