We’re all familiar with the old saw that “opposites attract.” But how opposite is too opposite?
At first glance it might have seemed that William Cohen and Janet Langhart were just too opposite to succeed as a couple
Cohen was white, Jewish, Republican.
Langhart was black, Christian, and Democrat.
But when journalist Langhart interviewed Senator Cohen, something sparked. And in 1996, they were married. The following year President Bill Clinton appointed Cohen his Defense Secretary.
The Cohens’ marriage has been sustained by a mutual empathy, as both have
faced racial or religious discrimination each has experienced since childhood.
In 2007 William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen co-wrote a book called Love in Black And White. That’s when I had the chance to sit down for a few minutes with both of them to talk about it.
So here now from 2007, William Cohen and Janet Langhart Cohen.
William Cohen is now 82. Janet Langhart is also 82. They celebrated their 28th anniversary last February.