Nixon's grandson aims for House

The grandson of former president Richard Nixon, Cox is running in the Republican primary this September and hopes to represent New York’s first congressional district, on eastern Long Island.

“I was really set on going to law school and establishing a legal career,” Cox said. “I was always interested in politics, but never thought it would happen so quickly — but when there’s an opportunity to serve, especially at such an important time in our country’s history, it just makes sense that this is the right time to step up.”

Though Cox never intended to have a political career during his time at the University, and cited events after graduation as the primary motivators for his election bid, those who knew him as an undergraduate said his college experiences foreshadowed his entrance into the political arena.

After graduating from the University magna cum laude with a degree in politics, Cox attended law school and then entered the business world, a move that ultimately led him to run for office, he said.

“It was a process of talking to a lot of people in the district, a lot of them doctors and small-business owners, and a lot of them were expressing concerns about what was going on in Washington,” Cox explained. “I’m a small-business owner myself, so I could understand a lot of those.”

Engineering professor Ed Zschau ’61, who taught Cox in a class on high-tech entrepreneurship, said his former student’s background in small business could be a significant asset in running for Congress.

Also the founder and former chief executive of a Silicon Valley company, Zschau explained that the skills required to succeed in business also provide a good understanding of economics and the factors that create jobs and economic growth, as well as discipline and the ability to create a budget. Similar skills are valuable for public office, he said.

“He was an excellent student,” Zschau said of Cox. “He impressed me as not only being very thoughtful but being very articulate as well.”

Zschau explained that he thinks having a similar background allowed him to understand Cox as a college student.

“I had been a U.S. congressman myself in the 1980s, and he came from a political background — we had some common interests in that regard,” Zschau said. Zschau represented California’s 12th congressional district from 1983 to 1987.

Cox cited Zschau, politics professor Robert George and history professor Sean Wilentz as the faculty members who influenced his decision to enter politics, but Zscahu said that his former student never expressed an interest in engaging in public service to him.

Victoria Bailey ’01, however, said that she saw significant political ambition in her former classmate and current friend, noting that “he was always politically minded.”

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Bailey, a resident of Palo Alto, Calif., organized a fundraiser in support of Cox’s campaign earlier this year, along with Rick Prostko ’01. Prostko could not be reached for comment.

“His family background led everyone to believe that he would probably go into politics one day,” Bailey added.

Cox was heavily involved with College Republicans during his time at the University, and Bailey noted that his political interests led him beyond the confines of campus. He frequently attended events held by the World Economic Forum in New York, she said.

“I would go with him every once in a while to those events, and we were always the youngest people in the room, but he was always one of the most well-respected,” she said.

Andrew Kilberg ’10, whose parents are friendly with Cox’s, first met Cox at the Republican National Convention in 2004. “He seems to be a 21st-century Republican, who successfully blends Republican principles with the major issues about which our generation cares a great deal,” Kilberg said in an e-mail.

Cox, an alumnus of Quadrangle Club, said that the most important thing he gained from Princeton is a network of connections with classmates like Bailey — an asset which now works in his favor on the campaign trail. “You have to really get to know your classmates because your classmates are going to become very important people in your lives, and they’re going to be able to help you with your small business, in your law practice or in your campaign,” he explained.

“Whether you’re out on Prospect Avenue on a Saturday night or you’re having dinner with one of your friends at an eating club … you never know how important that person will become in your life,” Cox said.

This is the last of three articles profiling Princetonians running for Congress.