Eric Foner

Eric Foner is a professor of history at Columbia University who specializes in nineteenth century American history, the American Civil War and Reconstruction. He is writes frequently about racial, gender and other social issues. He has served as president of the Organization of American Historians (1993-94) and the American Historical Association in 2000.

Foner earned his B.A., summa cum laude, from Columbia University in 1963, a second B.A. from Oriel College, Oxford, in 1965, and his Ph.D. in 1969, under the tutelage of Richard Hofstadter at Columbia. He is the nephew of the late historian and communist political activist Philip Foner.

Foner's books include Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War (1970), Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (1976), Politics and Ideology in the Age of the Civil War (1980), Nothing But Freedom: Emancipation and Its Legacy (1983), Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 (1988), Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction (1993), and The Story of American Freedom (1998), and Who Owns History? Rethinking the Past in a Changing World (2002). His survey textbook of American history, Give Me Liberty! An American History and a companion volume of documents, Voices of Freedom, appeared in 2004.

Foner reguarly writes Op-Eds for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and several other publications. He is also a member of the editorial board of The Nation.

Politics

Foner's political philosophy, which often forms the basis of his historiographical work, may be considered neo-Marxist. Foner came from a notable liberal political family, including his uncles Philip Foner, a historian and communist political activist, and Moe Foner, a labor union organizer. In his youth Eric was interested in Soviet politics and became an admirer of several political icons on the left, among them Mikhail Gorbachev and Paul Robeson. His political views have given rise to his nickname "Eric the Red" among Columbia students. Historian John Patrick Diggins described the political Foner as "both an unabashed apologist for the Soviet system and an unforgiving historian of America."[1] His political views prompted Theodore Draper to criticize Foner as "a partisan of radical sects and opinions."[2]

Foner has published opinion pieces in the liberal magazine the Nation. He is also vocal among Civil War historians advocating the removal of Confederate flags from public display.[3] Conservative David Horowitz decribed as "Anti-American" a Columbia University teach-in that Foner helped organize in 2003, and criticized Foner for quoting Paul Robeson.[4] Daniel Pipes identified Foner among the major liberal "Profs who hate America," citing the historian's criticism of the Iraq war.[5]

Quotations

"I'm not sure which is more frightening: the horror that engulfed New York City or the apocalyptic rhetoric emanating daily from the White House."

"The only true heroes are those who find ways to defeat the U.S. military,"

Mogadishu Quotation

Some have incorrectly attributed a call for "a million Mogadishus" to Foner. The actual quote was made at a Columbia University "teach-in" against the Iraq War in which Foner was a participant. The statement was made shortly after Foner spoke by Nicholas De Genova, Assistant Professor of Latino/a Studies and Anthropology, and argued "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military. I personally would like to see a million Mogadishus."

External links

• Eric Foner's homepage
• The Left's Lion: Eric Foner's History by Ronald Radosh
• Who Owns History? - Publisher's page of Foner's book by the same title