While still a young child, he moved with his parents across the Appalachian Mountains to what is now Tennessee, where his father was active in the State of Franklin movement.

[4] In November 1811, during the first year of Cocke's speakership, the House voted to impeach his father, William, then a state supreme court justice.

Responding to President James Madison's request for troops, Governor Willie Blount ordered Jackson and the Western Division south to Natchez in early 1813.

Though Jackson's army was recalled within a few weeks, members of the Eastern Division grew restless, wanting to join the war.

[6] Following the Fort Mims massacre in August 1813, Governor Blount ordered both Jackson and Cocke to invade Alabama and quell the hostile Red Stick Creeks.

Cocke, however, halted before reaching the fort, and instead dispatched James White to attack the Hillabee Creeks, not knowing Jackson had already made peace with them.

[6][7] Following the death of John Sevier in 1815, Cocke ran for his vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but was narrowly defeated by William Grainger Blount, 1,583 votes to 1,355.

In 1819, Blount decided not to run for reelection, and Cocke was finally able to win the seat, edging James Porter, 3,792 votes to 3,434.

While he voted in favor of a bill that would have provided appropriations for the repair of the Cumberland Road in 1822, he vigorously opposed legislation that would have empowered the president to designate certain improvement projects as having "national worth," and thus eligible for federal funding.

Notable descendants of Cocke include Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk, who commanded the Normandy landings in 1944, art collector Francis Henry Taylor, and Senator Luke Lea.