Jeffery Cohelan

Who was Jeffery Cohelan?

Jeffery Cohelan was a United States Representative from California. He was born in San Francisco, California and attended the public schools and San Mateo Junior College. He earned his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in Economics in 1950. He was a Fulbright research scholar at Leeds and Oxford Universities in England in 1953 and 1954.

He worked driving a milk truck from 1935, and was the secretary-treasurer of the Milk Drivers and Dairy Employees, Local 302, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. In 1958 election, he campaigned from a milk truck and was elected to Congress. He was a consultant to the University of California Institute of Industrial Relations.

Cohelan was a member of Berkeley Welfare Commission 1949-1953, the Berkeley City Council 1955-1958, and San Francisco Council on Foreign Relations. He was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-sixth and to the five succeeding Congresses, from 1959 to 1971. He was known as a Johnson liberal for his support of progressive programs, but also American involvement in the Vietnam War.