Tom Cotton | |
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United States Senator from Arkansas |
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Assumed office January 3, 2015 Serving with John Boozman |
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Preceded by | Mark Pryor |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 4th district |
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In office January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015 |
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Preceded by | Mike Ross |
Succeeded by | Bruce Westerman |
Personal details | |
Born |
Thomas Bryant Cotton May 13, 1977 Dardanelle, Arkansas, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Anna Cotton (m. 2014) |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Harvard University (BA, JD) |
Website | Senate website |
Military service | |
Allegiance |
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Service/branch |
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Years of service | 2005–2009 (active) 2010–2013 (reserve) |
Rank |
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Unit |
506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division 3rd Infantry Regiment |
Battles/wars |
War on Terror • Iraqi insurgency (2003–11) • War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) |
Awards |
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Thomas Bryant "Tom" Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician who is the junior United States Senator from Arkansas. A member of the Republican Party, Cotton has served in the Senate since January 3, 2015. At age 39, he is currently the youngest U.S. Senator. Prior to the election of Cotton, Chris Murphy from Connecticut was the youngest Senator, as he was 39 when first elected in 2013.
Cotton was first elected to the Senate in 2014, defeating two-term Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor. He previously served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 until 2015.
Tom Cotton was born on May 13, 1977 in Dardanelle, north of Russellville. He is the son of Thomas Leonard and Avis (née Bryant) Cotton, and grew up on the family farm. He graduated from Dardanelle High School in June 1995. He attended Harvard College, where he wrote for the Harvard Crimson, graduating in 1998, three years after enrolling. In summer 1997, Cotton attended the Publius Fellowship program of the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank. In 1998, he was accepted into a master's degree program at Claremont Graduate University. He left in 1999, saying that he found academic life "too sedentary", enrolling at Harvard Law School, where he received his J.D. degree in June 2002. Immediately after finishing law school in 2002, he served for a year as a clerk for Judge Jerry Edwin Smith at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He then entered private practice, working at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher for a few months, and at Cooper & Kirk from 2003 to 2004.