Born in Cedar County, Iowa, in 1859, graduated from Cornell College, Mount Vernon, having finished his course in 1881 and was admitted to the bar the following year. In the fall of 1885 he was elected to the House of the Twenty-first General Assembly and at the session of the Senate held in 1887 to try the impeachment charges preferred against J. L. Brown, Auditor of State, Mr. Cousins was chosen by the House to act as one of the prosecutors. The Senate acquitted the auditor; but it was conceded that the prosecution was ably conducted and Mr. Cousins' argument was an eloquent presentation of the case and brought the young lawyer into prominence. In 1888 he was chosen Prosecuting Attorney and Presidential elector in the Fifth District. In 1892 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Fifth District for Representative in Congress and elected by a plurality of 1,098. He has been repeatedly reelected, serving in the Fifty-fourth, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses and has won the reputation of being one of the most eloquent public speakers in the House of Representatives.