Charles Christopher Cox (born October 16, 1952) is an American attorney and politician who served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a 17-year Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, and member of the White House staff in the Reagan Administration. Prior to his Washington service he was a practicing attorney, teacher, and entrepreneur. Following his retirement from government in 2009, he returned to law practice and currently serves as a director, trustee, and advisor to several for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
Early life and education
Cox was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. After graduating from Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Minnesota in 1970, Cox earned a Bachelor of Arts degree the University of Southern California in 1973, following an accelerated three-year course. He was also a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. In 1977, he earned both an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Career
From 1977 to 1978, he served as law clerk to Judge Herbert Choy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In October 1978, Cox was paralyzed from the waist down following a serious off-road Jeep accident in the rainforest on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. He eventually regained the ability to walk but wore a harness of steel bars and leather straps for six months. He still has two metal screws in his back, and according to a 2005 Fortune magazine profile, “has been in pain every day for the past 27 years.” Since he can't sit for extended periods of time, he has a special desk that allows him to work while standing.
As a contestant on the NBC-TV game show Password Plus, Cox won more than $5,000 over multiple appearances. According to a re-broadcast of Password Plus on the cable network GSN, Cox appeared in 1980 and won $5,400 cash.
From 1977 to 1986, Cox was first an associate and then partner with the international law firm of Latham & Watkins. At the time of his retirement in 1986 he was the Partner in Charge of the Corporate Department in the Orange County office, and served as a member of the firm's national management. In 1982–83, Cox took a leave of absence from Latham & Watkins to teach federal income tax at Harvard Business School.
In 1984, Cox co-founded Context Corporation, which produced daily English reproductions of the leading Soviet state-controlled newspaper, Pravda. The publication was used chiefly by U.S. universities and U.S. government agencies, and was eventually distributed to customers in 26 countries around the world. The company had no connection to the Soviet government.
White House
During the second term of Ronald Reagan from 1986 to 1988, Cox served as senior associate counsel to the president. His duties included advising on the nomination of three Supreme Court justices, the establishment of the Brady Commission following the 1987 market crash, and the drafting of legislative reform proposals for the federal budget process.
In 1986, following Chief Justice Warren Burger's confidential message to President Reagan that he planned to step down from the bench, White House Counsel Peter Wallison tasked a small team including Cox with thoroughly researching the opinions and judicial philosophies of the leading candidates for the next Supreme Court nomination. The effort focused on judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals who had a substantial record of decisions. After narrowing the field to five or six, the search quickly settled on Judge Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a recommendation the president accepted.
As a part of his White House responsibilities, Cox also reviewed the FBI files of nominees for presidential appointments.
When Howard Baker took over for Donald Regan as chief of staff in 1987, bringing with him Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. as counsel to the president, First Lady Nancy Reagan specifically asked Culvahouse to keep Cox on the White House staff. According to Culvahouse, she and the East Wing staff "liked Chris a lot ... He is a very good lawyer," and his willingness to give up his partnership in a prestigious law firm to join the White House staff only a year before had made an impression. As senior associate counsel under Culvahouse, Cox became deeply involved in market issues and securities issues including then-pending congressional proposals for legislation on insider trading, greenmail, junk bonds, golden parachutes and golden handcuffs, tender offers, and takeovers.