{{Short description|American politician (1863–1939)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Cyrenus Cole | honorific_suffix = | image = CyrenusCole.jpg | alt = Upper body and head of seated middle-age man wearing sport coat with white shirt and tie | state = Iowa | district = 5th | term_start = August 1, 1921 | term_end = March 3, 1933 | predecessor = James W. Good | successor = Lloyd Thurston | birth_date = {{birth date|1863|1|13}} | birth_place = Pella, Iowa, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1939|11|14|1863|1|13}} | death_place = Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, U.S. | spouse = | party = Republican | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Central College | occupation = Newspaper editor | profession = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}

'''Cyrenus Cole''' (January 13, 1863 – November 14, 1939) was a newspaper editor, columnist and historian, then a Republican U.S. Representative from Iowa's 5th congressional district for over eleven years.

Born near Pella, Iowa, Cole graduated from Central College in Pella in 1887. He was an associate editor at ''The Iowa State Register'',<ref name=recall>Editorial, "Does He Recall It!," Waterloo Times-Tribune, 1905-05-12, at 4.</ref> then the editor and (until 1913) co-owner of ''The Cedar Rapids Republican.''<ref>Editorial, "Looks like Cy Cole," Waterloo Times-Tribune, 1921-06-14 at 4.</ref> He was also the author of many books, including "A History of the People of Iowa,"<ref>Cyrenus Cole, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=viEUAAAAYAAJ&q=Cyrenus+Cole A History of the People of Iowa]," (Torch Press 1921) available in Google Books (accessed 2009-01-18).</ref> "Iowa Through the Years," and "The Farmer in Politics and Prosperity."<ref>"Republicans without issue for campaign: record poorest ever," Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, Missouri), 1922-04-18 at 3.</ref> He also owned two farms near Pella.<ref>"Cyrenus Cole disposes of stock in R-T," Cedar Rapids Tribune, 1913-08-08 at p.1.</ref>

While serving as editor, Cole was very active in the stand-patters faction of the Iowa Republican Party, a "more" conservative alternative to the party's progressive wing.<ref>"Deny that Perkins will quit the race: Score of Standpatters in Town for Conference," Des Moines Daily News, 1906-04-17 at 2.</ref>

In late 1920, James W. Good, the Republican U.S. Representative for Iowa's 5th congressional district (which included Cedar Rapids) indicated he would resign the following year. Cole easily prevailed in the district convention called to nominate a Republican candidate to fill the vacancy, and defeated his Democratic adversary in the July 1921 race. Cole was sworn into office on August 1, 1921, as a member of the 67th Congress.

Cole won re-election four times, but by increasingly narrow margins in 1928 and 1930. He was considered a "dry" (supporter of prohibition) in the ongoing legislative controversy over the repeal of prohibition. In 1932, he elected not to seek re-election,<ref>"Cyrenus Cole Not a Candidate," Oelwein Daily Register, 1932-02-10 at 3.</ref> following reapportionment that left him and another incumbent ("wet" Democrat Bernhard M. Jacobsen of Clinton) in a reconstituted 2nd congressional district that included several new counties in which Cole's "dry" stance on prohibition was unpopular. Jacobsen, and many other Democrats, won in the Roosevelt landslide. In all, Cole served in Congress from August 1, 1921 to March 3, 1933.

Cole returned to writing, publishing several more books, including his memoirs.<ref>Cyrenus Cole, "I remember, I remember; a book of recollections,' (State Hist. Soc. of Ia. 1936)</ref> He died on November 14, 1939, in Washington, D.C., and was interred in the First Dutch Reform Church Cemetery, near Pella.

==References== {{reflist}} {{CongBio|C000608|date=May 31, 2011}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Cyrenus}} Category:1863 births Category:1939 deaths Category:People from Pella, Iowa Category:Central College (Iowa) alumni Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Iowa Category:American memoirists Category:Editors of Iowa newspapers Category:Historians of Iowa Category:20th-century United States representatives