She was an education minister in
Charles Taylor's shadow government from 1990 to 1993 in the
National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly Government. The
National Patriotic Front of Liberia, a rebel group led by
Charles Taylor, launched an insurrection in December 1989 against the ruling Doe's government with the backing of neighboring countries such as
Burkina Faso and
Ivory Coast. This triggered the
First Liberian Civil War from 1989 to 1999 that killed 200,000 people. The rebels soon split into various factions, namely IGNU, Ulimo and NPFL. D fighting among each other. A peace deal between warring parties was reached in 1995, leading to Taylor's election as president in 1997. During 1994, she was appointed the vice-chairperson of the
National Patriotic Front of Liberia, the guerrilla movement of Charles Taylor. by the
National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL). Cooper was the first woman to hold that position in Liberia. She continued in the ministry till 1995. During her time as Foreign Minister, she was part of a delegation to attempt to release
United Nations hostages in
Sierra Leone. Later, in 2001, Taylor's government established a Ministry of Gender and Development (MoGD) and appointed Cooper as the first minister to that position. She continued with the portfolio till 2003. The interim President Gyude Byrant replaced her with
Vabah Gayflor in 2005. ==Later life==