First time authors are more dependent than others on the kindness of strangers, not to mention friends and acquaintances.
My first debt is to Hillel Neuer, the talented executive director of UN Watch, who proposed that I put together a slideshow about its founding chairman for the organization’s website. While working on this assignment at Emory University in the early part of 2017, I realized that my subject’s rich life deserved fuller treatment.
Had it not been for the encouragement I received at the outset from a valued friend, the author David Evanier, the project would probably not have been undertaken. Along the way I have received support from many others. Special thanks go to Joshua Abram, who gave generously of his time throughout the project to fill in critical details and help me gain a more complete understanding of the personal side of his father. Many others took a strong interest in the project and offered assistance in various ways. They include Morris Abram’s daughter Ruth Abram and his widow Bruna Molina, as well as the following: Cecily Abram, Elliott Abrams, Steven Bayme, Jonathan Cohen, Michael Colson, Larry Diamond, Stuart Eizenstat, Deborah Forman, Carl Gershman, Hannah Gaywood, Robert Hicks, Penson Kaminsky, Joseph Lefkoff, Mark Levin, Lynn Levine, Richard Lowe, Eric Singer, Allen Tanenbaum, Stuart Weisberg, and Stephen Whitfield. I am also grateful to Alan Lowe, who read entire chapters and made helpful suggestions.
I am most fortunate that my longtime colleague Marc Plattner was willing to give the manuscript a careful reading and make useful recommendations. At the University of Nebraska Press, Ann Baker provided steady direction to the project and Abigail Stryker and Christina LaRose offered valuable editorial assistance.
My agent, Ronald Goldfarb, gave me a solid education in how to write a book proposal and made some helpful suggestions related to the book’s organization. I would also like to express appreciation to those who gave this project credibility by providing endorsements of my proposal: Abe Foxman, David Harris, Vernon Jordan, Bill Kristol, Alfred Moses, and Norman Podhoretz.
Let me take this opportunity to recognize the contributions of those unsung heroes whose expertise in locating relevant material not only lessened the burdens of research but also frequently made working in libraries such a pleasure: Kathy Shoemaker and her excellent staff at the Rose Archives at Emory University; Tim Myers and Sarah Braun at the Democracy Resource Center of the National Endowment for Democracy; Chloe Morse-Harding at the Goldfarb Library at Brandeis University; Charlotte Bonelli and Desiree Guillermo at the American Jewish Committee Archives; and the staffs of the Georgia Historical Society and the Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Library.
The following gave generously of their time to sit for personal interviews, providing indispensable insights about the Morris Abram they knew: Cecily Abram, Joshua Abram, Ruth Abram, Miles Alexander, Shulamit Bahat, Steven Bayme, Eric Block, Janice Rothschild Blumberg, Marshall Breger, Linda Chavez, Jacob Cohen, Jonathan Cohen, Michael Colson, Alan Dershowitz, Robert Destro, Gordon Fellman, Hamilton Fish, Deborah Forman, Abraham Foxman, Felice Gaer, Hannah Gaywood, Max Gitter, Jerry Goodman, Max Green, David Harris, Robert Hicks, Malcolm Hoenlein, Jeh Johnson, Vernon Jordan, Penson Kaminsky, Morton Keller, Billy Keyserling, Joseph Lefkoff, Mark Levin, Elliott Levitas, John Lewis, Seth Lipsky, Ted Maloof, Bruna Molina, Alfred Moses, Lamar Perlis, Anne Patterson, Norman Podhoretz, Bruce Ramer, Robert Rifkind, Sidney Rosdeitcher, Richard Schifter, George Shultz, David Schwarz, Eric Singer, Stephen Spitz, David Squire, Kenneth Sweder, Mark Talisman, Herbert Teitelbaum, Jonathan Tepperman, Eric Yoffie, and Andrew Young.
My wife, Paula Lowe, whose good judgment I rely upon daily, made frequently sensible suggestions while patiently putting up with what has been my near obsession for the past two years.
I only hope that no one listed here will feel responsible for any of my errors.