# Cyrenus Cole

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{{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](/source/Iowa's_5th_congressional_district)
| term_start = August 1, 1921
| term_end = March 3, 1933
| predecessor = [James W. Good](/source/James_W._Good)
| successor = [Lloyd Thurston](/source/Lloyd_Thurston)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1863|1|13}}
| birth_place = [Pella](/source/Pella%2C_Iowa), Iowa, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1939|11|14|1863|1|13}}
| death_place = [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), District of Columbia, U.S.
| spouse =
| party = [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States))
| relations =
| children =
| alma_mater = [Central College](/source/Central_College_(Iowa))
| occupation = Newspaper editor
| profession =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Cyrenus Cole''' (January 13, 1863 – November 14, 1939) was a [newspaper editor](/source/newspaper_editor), [columnist](/source/newspaper_columnist) and [historian](/source/historian), then a [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) [U.S. Representative](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) from [Iowa's 5th congressional district](/source/Iowa's_5th_congressional_district) for over eleven years.

Born near [Pella, Iowa](/source/Pella%2C_Iowa), Cole graduated from [Central College](/source/Central_College_(Iowa)) in [Pella](/source/Pella%2C_Iowa) 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](/source/Jefferson_City%2C_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](/source/Standpatter_Republican) faction of the [Iowa Republican Party](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) adversary in the July 1921 race.  Cole was sworn into office on August 1, 1921, as a member of the [67th](/source/67th_United_States_Congress) Congress.

Cole won re-election four times, but by increasingly narrow margins in 1928 and 1930. He was considered a "dry" (supporter of [prohibition](/source/Prohibition_in_the_United_States)) 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](/source/Bernhard_M._Jacobsen) of [Clinton](/source/Clinton%2C_Iowa)) in a reconstituted [2nd congressional district](/source/Iowa's_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](/source/U.S._presidential_election%2C_1932).  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.](/source/State_Historical_Society_of_Iowa) 1936)</ref>  He died on November 14, 1939, in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), and was interred in the First Dutch Reform Church Cemetery, near [Pella](/source/Pella%2C_Iowa).

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

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Iowa
| district=5
| district_ord=5th
| before=[James W. Good](/source/James_W._Good)
| after= [Lloyd Thurston](/source/Lloyd_Thurston)
| years=August 1, 1921–March 3, 1933
}}
{{s-end}}

{{IARepresentatives}}
{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 67th–72nd [United States Congress](/source/United_States_Congress)es |state=[Iowa](/source/Iowa)}}
{{USCongRep/IA/67}}
{{USCongRep/IA/68}}
{{USCongRep/IA/69}}
{{USCongRep/IA/70}}
{{USCongRep/IA/71}}
{{USCongRep/IA/72}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Bioguide}}

{{Authority control}}

{{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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cyrenus Cole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrenus_Cole) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrenus_Cole?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.