Edwin Cohen, 91; Lawyer Helped Shape Tax Policy, Served Nixon
Edwin Cohen, 91, a tax lawyer who had a major role in the formation of modern tax policy and also served as undersecretary of the Treasury in the first Nixon administration, died of heart disease Thursday at his home in Charlottesville, Va.
As a member of a New York law firm, Cohen advised the House Ways and Means Committee when it wrote the basic Internal Revenue Code of 1954, which massively overhauled the federal income tax system.
In 1969, he was appointed assistant secretary of the Treasury for tax policy and later was undersecretary before resigning in 1972. Cohen had a strong role in the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1969, which brought another round of sweeping changes to the tax code.
After returning to private life, Cohen taught at the University of Virginia, his law school alma mater, and served as counsel to the Washington, D.C., law firm of Covington & Burling.
He was born Sept. 27, 1914, in Richmond, Va., and graduated at 18 from the University of Richmond in 1933.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
