Cox was an associate attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He later practiced law with William Colby, a Nixon administration figure.[9] As of 1997, Cox had become a partner in the Donovan Leisure firm.[10] Subsequently, he was a member of the management committee and chairman of the corporate department[11] at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.[4]
Government
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From 1981 to 1983, Cox served in the Reagan Administration as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of a government corporation, The United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation.[12][13] He has served Presidents Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush in the international arena.[14][vague] He has visited with numerous officials, including heads of state or government, in more than 30 countries.[15][16][bettersourceneeded]
Cox was commissioner of the Commission on Judicial Nomination (nominating candidates for New York's highest court) from 1991 to 2009[17] and was chairman of the New York Council of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (1995 to 2008).[18][bettersourceneeded]
Cox was a Trustee of the State University of New York (SUNY) from 1995 to 2009.[19][failed verification] From 1999 to 2009, as co-chairman and chairman of SUNY's Charter School Committee, Cox founded SUNY's Charter School Institute and led the authorization of fifty charter schools.[20][21][22]
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Cox has assisted Republican candidates in New York at all levels in numerous election cycles. In the 1994 state election, Cox played a key role in electing George Pataki governor and Dennis Vacco attorney general.[4]
In 2007 and 2008, Cox chaired John McCain's presidential campaign efforts in the State of New York.[32]
New York Republican Party Chairman (2009–2019; 2023-present)
Cox was elected chairman of the New York State Republican Committee at the committee's meeting on September 30, 2009.[33] Cox had a seven-point agenda for the future when elected chairman.[34]
Cox announced on May 20, 2019, that he was joining President Donald Trump'sre-election campaign and that he would not run for re-election as chairman of the state committee. He said, "Serving as Chairman of the NYGOP over the last ten years has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my life, and I will continue to actively help elect more Republicans here in New York'".[35] On July 1, 2019, Erie County Republican Chair Nick Langworthy succeeded Cox.[36]
On March 13, 2023, Cox was again elected to serve as chair of the New York Republican State Committee.[37]
Personal life
In 1971, Cox married Tricia Nixon, the daughter of President Richard Nixon, in a White House Rose Garden ceremony.[38] The wedding was described in Life Magazine as "a union 'akin to American royalty'".[39]The New York Times devoted two columns on its front page to the Cox-Nixon wedding, describing Cox as "tall, fine-boned and handsome", and as "the scion of Easterners whose ancestors go back to the leaders of the American Revolution".[9]
↑Freedlander, David (April 14, 2010). "Ed Cox and the Republican Restoration". Capitol News. p.17. Archived from the original on October 6, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010. His seven goals were (a) to be "a full-time chairman"; (b) to win victories in the 2009 local elections; (c) to re-build the state party's staff; (d) to "re-establish credibility" of the state party nationally; (e) to raise money; (f) to recruit a "slate of candidates up and down the ballot"; and (g) to win statewide elections in 2010.
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