A Lawyer's Life Deep in the Heart of Taxes.

• Author: Mattson, Robert N.

RELATED ARTICLE: Since the present-day tax code is so complicated, it is important to understand the process of coming to a decision on tax questions that the tax executive faces every day. Major changes to the 1954 tax code that eventually became the 1986 tax code can be traced to concepts (e.g., alternative minimum tax) introduced in the 1969 tax reform act. We are fortunate to have an account of the origin of those changes in the autobiography by Edwin Cohen.

Ed Cohen's career reached the highest levels of achievement in our profession. He has been a renowned professor of tax law at the University of Virginia; Assistant Secretary and later Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department, thereby leading the nation's tax policy initiatives during 1969 through 1972; and an esteemed practitioner beginning at Sullivan & Cromwell, at his own firm, Root, Barrett, Cohen & Knapp, and finally after government service, at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. Ed Cohen has been involved in some of the most interesting tax policy issues in the last 60 years. He has personally provided the thinking behind the formulation of answers to tax policy questions by carefully laying out the analysis. His book is an inspiring story of character.

This fascinating book by a teaching exemplar will be inspiring and educational for both the experienced tax professional and the newcomer. Professor Cohen is, at heart, a teacher first, and for the many that have not had the privilege of being his student, this book reveals his teaching style. In a profession where learning never ends, this is a most welcomed opportunity and I recommend the book for the tax professional's library not just for the one-time reading, but as a reference over the years for ideas on how to approach very difficult tax problems.

Do not be led to believe that this is a dry, textbook discussion of tax issues. It is full of fun, quips, and poems by the author of "Ode to the Code," who is also a notorious punster. Ed Cohen shows us how to have fun in the practice of tax law-another lesson to be learned.'(Ode to the Code' is excerpted in this issue on page 48.)

In the early chapters, Ed Cohen describes his "initiation in government service" as the senior tax policy executive in the Nixon Administration. A list of his colleagues at the Treasury Department includes Jack Nolan, senior partner at Miller & Chevalier; Mike Graetz, who recently held top tax posts at Treasury before returning to Yale to...