Harry Cooper Snyder Jr. (July 10, 1928 – October 14, 2019) was an American politician. He was affiliated with the Republican Party, and served on the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...

from 1979 to 1996 as a legislator from the 14th district.

Early life

Snyder was born in

Blanchester, Ohio Blanchester is a village in Clinton and Warren counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 4,224 at the 2020 census. Blanchester is part of the Wilmington, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cincinnat ...

. He was the owner of Snyder's Hardware. Snyder served on the Clinton County Board of Education.

Political career

When Bill Mussey resigned from the Senate in 1979 to take a spot on the Ohio Industrial Commission, Snyder was appointed to his seat. He was elected to his own full term a year later, in 1980. He won re-election to a second term in 1984. In 1988, Snyder initially sought to run for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, but instead remained in the Senate, winning a third term. He won a fourth term in the Senate in 1992. By 1994, Snyder again sought to run for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

for a seat held by first-term Congressman

Ted Strickland Theodore Strickland (born August 4, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 68th governor of Ohio from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States House of Representatives, representing ( ...

, but in a crowded Republican primary, Snyder lost the nomination to Frank Cremeans, who won the election. With his Congressional defeat, Snyder returned to the Senate. By 1996, Snyder announced that he would retire, citing

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

s as the reason. In an effort to give a successor a head start, Snyder resigned early from the seat, and was replaced by Doug White, who served as Senate President later in his term. He served as Chairman of the Ohio Community School Network, until retiring in the early 2000s. During his time in the Senate, he was passionate about education. He pushed for

Post Secondary Enrollment Options Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) is an academic option open to high school seniors, juniors and sophomores in various US states, such as Minnesota, Ohio, Washington and Florida. The options allow students to take courses at the college lev ...

, advocated for mandatory kindergarten attendance, and supported proficiency testing. In 1991, the

University of Cincinnati Clermont College The University of Cincinnati Clermont College (UC Clermont) is a satellite campus of the University of Cincinnati with its main campus in Batavia, Ohio. UC Clermont is an open admissions institution, providing access to higher education to anyo ...

unveiled The Dorothy and Cooper Snyder Education Building to honor both Snyder and his wife Dorothy for their efforts to bring educational opportunities to under-served areas. In August 2018, Snyder was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the Ohio Department of Higher Education.

Personal life and death

Snyder married Dorothy Bacot on July 7, 1949, and together they had six children. Dorothy played a significant role during Snyder's time in the Senate and she frequently accompanied him to events, meetings, and legislative sessions. In the final years of their lives, they lived at the Ohio Living Cape May retirement community in

Wilmington, Ohio Wilmington is a city in Clinton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 12,664 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Micropolitan statistical area, Wilmington micropolitan area ...

. Dorothy died in her sleep on June 15, 2019, and Cooper died nearly four months later, at age 91, on October 14, 2019.

References

1928 births 2019 deaths People from Blanchester, Ohio Businesspeople from Ohio School board members in Ohio Republican Party Ohio state senators Wilmington College (Ohio) alumni University of Cincinnati alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly {{Ohio-OHSenate-stub