Having authored, co-written or edited 24 books on Abraham Lincoln, Harold Holzer, it can be assumed, knows quite a lot about our nation's 16 th president and his close associates, including New Yorker and Union College grad William Seward, his secretary of state.
But Holzer, a New York native himself, is not only an expert on Lincoln, the Civil War and 19 th century America. New York politics, particularly those of the 1970s and '80s, is another area he can include in his field of expertise.
At Union College's Nott Memorial at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to speak about Lincoln and Seward, Holzer said he won't stray too far from the topic people expect from him. But, sometime in the future, who knows.
“One of these days, on the lecture circuit, I'm going to say, ‘OK, enough Lincoln, let's talk about Mario and Bella,' and then see what happens,” Holzer said, referring to former New York governor Mario Cuomo and former U.S. congresswoman Bella Abzug. “People have suggested it to me in the past and I do have some pretty good cam-WORKING IN POLITICS
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, Holzer was educated at the City University of New York. He worked as a newspaper editor at the Manhattan Tribune before entering the world of politics as campaign secretary for Abzug, a three-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Manhattan. Holzer also worked as a speechwriter for Abraham Beame, mayor of New York from 1974 to 1977, and then returned to the campaign trail in 1982 as a press secretary for New York gubernatorial candidate Mario Cuomo.
“I worked for the governor for quite a while, and went on a lot of economic development-related trips with him to Schenectady, Troy and other upstate cities,” said Holzer in a recent phone interview.
“My friends seem to love my campaign stories. Maybe some day, if I feel safe and get a pass from Mario Cuomo, I'll do it. It might be a best seller – not that he has anything to be embarrassed about.”
Holzer, in fact, continues to be a big fan of Cuomo, and would have loved to see him run for higher office in the 1990s.
“I was on that famous trip to Japan with him in 1991 when he sort of dropped the hint about running for the presidency,” remembered Holzer, who lives in Rye with his wife, Edith. “That was a crazy two months, and then he decided not to run. It may have been the right decision for him personally, but I think it was a loss for the country. I think he would have made a great president.”
Holzer still stays in touch with the former governor, and remained good friends with Abzug until her death in 1998.
“Bella Abzug was my graduate school in public relations,” said Holzer. “I was an editor at a small weekly and didn't know anything about public relations until I worked for her. I really liked her and stayed very close to her for the next 20 years.”
SERIES OF BOOKS
Holzer's first book on Lincoln, “The Lincoln Image,” came out in 1984, and in 1990 he co-wrote “Lincoln on Democracy,” with Cuomo. His recent book, “Lincoln at Cooper Union,” won the 2005 Lincoln Prize, and while very proud of his work, Holzer offers a rave review for the 2006 Lincoln-Prize winner, “A Team of Rivals,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
“Frank Sinatra said once that when he hears Sarah Vaughan sing, he feels like going home and cutting his wrists with a dull razor,” said Holzer. “That's how I feel about Doris Kearns Goodwin. I'm a very big fan, I adore her personally, and that book was beautifully written and exhaustively researched.”
Holzer's most recent book, “Lincoln in the Times: The Life of Abraham Lincoln as Originally Reported in the New York Times,” was published in 2005, and he is working on another book focusing on the time between Lincoln's election and inauguration.
Holzer gained national prominence in 1993 for publishing an edition of “The Lincoln-Douglas Debates.” He became a familiar face to history buffs while serving as historical consultant and on-air commentator during C-SPAN's re-creations of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates in 1994. When not involved in writing, Holzer serves as senior vice president of external affairs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
“To be representing an institution that educates, enlightens and delights people from around the corner to around the world is wonderful,” said Holzer, who began working at the museum in 1993. “It's so inspiring to walkthese hallways and see the eyes of kids who are visiting us for the first time. It's a great place.”
Although Holzer has been to Schenectady before, he doesn't remember too much about the Union campus. Jim Underwood, the interim college president, hopes to give him a quick tour before Holzer meets the public at 7:30.
“In my office, we have a portrait of Seward as a young man that I know he'll love to see,” said Underwood, “and we also have a portrait of Chester A. Arthur, another Union grad who went on to be president, that I'm going to show him.”
CATCHING UP
Another individual waiting for Holzer's appearance is Schenectady mayor Brian Stratton, who met Holzer when they both worked in the Cuomo administration 20 years ago.
“We used to chat quite a bit and he would tell me stories about Bella Abzug,” said Stratton. “I'm sure he could write a book about his experiences, but Lincoln is his specialty. Harold is a fascinating man and he really makes Lincoln come alive.”