Oral history interview with James E. Holshouser Jr., March 13, 1998
Subtitle: interview C-0328-2, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Fleer, Jack D., interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2008
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Governors; Politics and government; Executive-legislative relations; Powers and duties; Political leadership
Other titles: Interview C-0328-2, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with James E. Holshouser Jr., March 13, 1998; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Elected to the governorship of North Carolina in 1972, James E. Holshouser Jr. was the first Republican chief executive of that state since 1896. In this interview, he remembers his service to the state, from his early days administering a budget surplus to his involvement in the partisan battles over major state issues. The biggest political challenge Holshouser faced was his effort to shore up the strength of the executive branch against incursions from the legislature. Even as he sought to secure executive power, he applied his managerial mentality, a belief in consensus-building honed during his time as a member of the minority party in the state legislature, to tangled issues like road-building and the reorganization of the University of North Carolina system. Holshouser describes the ethical challenges that confront politicians--including demands for favors or appointments and his efforts to avoid them--as well as commenting on his relationship with the media, which he seems to find inflammatory and overreaching. He also addresses the power of North Carolina's governor, both in absolute terms and in relation to the state's legislature, and how that power comes into play in budget negotiations and other arenas. This interview offers a comprehensive look into the world of North Carolina's governor, both its possibilities and its limitations.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 19, 2008).

Interview participants: James E. Holshouser Jr., interviewee; Jack Fleer, interviewer.

Duration: 03:01:32.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Kristin Shaffer.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 256 kilobytes, 332 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series C, Notable North Carolinians, interview C-0328-2, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 74 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.