Thad Cochran was born December 7, 1937, in Pontotoc, Mississippi. In 1955, Thad enrolled in the School of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi. He earned a B.A. degree with a major in psychology and a minor in political science. In the fall of 1961, he enrolled in the School of Law at the University of Mississippi. At the Ole Miss law school he won the Frederick Hamel Memorial Award for having the highest scholastic average in the first year class.

On June 6, 1964, he was married at the First Methodist Church in New Albany, Mississippi, to Rose Clayton, who had graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1963.

Thad Cochran was elected United States Congressman for the Fourth District which included twelve counties in southwest Mississippi. He was appointed to the Public Works and Transportation Committee, which had jurisdiction over economic development, transportation and flood control. He also served on a Republican task force to study the energy crisis, and he contributed to the writing of a report that was published in book form by the House Republican Conference. He was appointed later to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Select Committee on Ethics which wrote a new ethics code for Members of Congress.  After winning re-election to the House in 1974, he was elected by his colleagues to represent the southern states on the House Republican Policy Committee. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives again in 1976.

In 1978, Thad Cochran was elected to the United States Senate becoming the first Republican in over 100 years to win a statewide election in Mississippi. Senator Cochran has served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.  He currently serves as Ranking Member of the full Appropriations Committee and the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. He also serves as a member of Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee and the Rules Committee.

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