John Warren Cooke

John Warren Cooke (February 28, 1915 – November 28, 2009) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. A Democrat, he served in the Virginia House of Delegates 1942–1980 and was its Speaker from 1968 until his retirement.

Personal life; non-political career Cooke was born in Mathews, Virginia, to Giles Buckner Cooke and the former Katharine Grosh. His father, an Episcopal minister, had been a major in the Confederate States Army, serving on the personal staff of Robert E. Lee.

Attending both public and private schools, Cooke graduated from Lee-Jackson High School in Mathews. He spent one year at the Virginia Military Institute, then went to work for the Mathews County government, serving as clerk of the county school board, among other tasks.

Cooke married Anne Brown Rawn of Huntington, West Virginia on May 10, 1947. They had a son and a daughter. In 1944, Middlesex County was added to the district. That same year, he became secretary of the House Democratic caucus.

Cooke was an alternate delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention. He became Democratic caucus leader in 1950 and majority floor leader in 1956. In 1965, Charles City and New Kent Counties on the Virginia Peninsula were added to the district.

Cooke was elected House Speaker on January 10, 1968, replacing the retiring E. Blackburn Moore. That year he co-sponsored the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

In 1971 Cooke's district changed one more time, dropping Charles City and New Kent Counties and adding Essex, King and Queen and King William Counties. Cooke retired in 1979.