He's often cited with delightful scorn by "real" poets, and not unjustly given how bad so much of his poetry was. I joined in the scorn myself, but not long ago I came across
this song that Johnny Cash sang, and I liked it well enough to be surprised that Rod McKuen wrote it.
I do think it's somewhat ridiculous to compare Rod McKuen and Leonard Cohen, however. Leonard Cohen towers above Rod McKuen in almost every way. Check out
Tower of Song (which starts "My friends are gone and my hair is gray, I ache in the places where I used to play"). Or if you find his idiosyncratic voice a distraction, listen to
this song of his sung by Madeleine Peyroux (who sounds a lot like Billie Holiday).
I don't know the state of his health at the moment, but two years ago I saw him in concert and he performed with great vigor and energy for over three hours. He was 78 years old.