author
Cornelius P. Cotter
1924–1999
A political scientist who brought real-world party politics into his scholarship, he wrote about civil rights, presidential power, and the inner workings of American political organizations. His career moved between academia and public service, giving his books a grounded, practical edge.
1 Audiobook
Powers of the President during crises
by J. Malcolm (John Malcolm) Smith, Cornelius P. Cotter
About the author
Born in New York City on March 18, 1924, he took an unconventional path into academic life. He worked on the docks during World War II, served in the U.S. Navy, then used the G.I. Bill to study at Stanford University before earning graduate degrees in public administration from Harvard. He also pursued further study at the London School of Economics.
He taught at Columbia and Stanford, later led departments at Wichita State University and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and became known for research on civil rights and American political parties. His work on party organization and institutional change helped shape the study of modern U.S. political parties, and he also wrote on presidential emergency powers and public policy.
Outside the classroom, he served as executive director of the Republican Committee on Program and Progress and worked with Republican National Committee leaders around 1959 and 1960. That mix of scholarship and hands-on political experience gave his writing an unusual blend of analysis and firsthand knowledge. He died on July 12, 1999, after retiring to California.