Eric Holder the Overachieving Firstborn Brother

 

                                                 Eric Holder

Birth of the Boys

Eric Himpton Holder Jr. was born January 1, 1951

the firstborn child to Eric Himpton Holder Sr. a native

of Barbados who arrived in the United States at the age

of eleven and Miriam Yearwood Holder whose parents

were born in Barbados. Eighteen months later his brother

William Yearwood Holder would be born. 

Sibling Rivalry

What happens between the first two siblings depends on

a number of issues.  The spacing between them and their

genders are the most important issues.  If the spacing is

four years or more there is little interaction between them

and little sibling rivalry.  With less than four years spacing

an attempt by the second born to dethrone the first born is

always possible. The Holder boys were closely spaced at

eighteen months so the stage was set for a the battle to take

the throne.  This is the classic Cain and Abel story told in

the bible of brother against brother.  Usually the firstborn

is better in school and the second born becomes the athlete

with more social skills. What happens when the firstborn is

both the student and athlete? Then the firstborn is very secure

and instead of having a conflict with his younger brother he

is supportive.

The Firstborn

There are several types of firstborns that develop in response

to the gender of the sibling younger them themselves. Each

tries to hold their position as top dog in the family hierarchy.

They all try to be high achievers in school. The firstborn child

tends to relate to the parent with the most power and this was

his father who was 21 years older than his mother. They also

enforce the family rules and are the leaders or CEO’s of the

birth order sequence.  They try not to upset the establishment

or the way things are done. Firstborns don’t like to make

mistakes and when they do they tend to find excuses why they

were right. Making a mistake goes to their very core for as

children they were always suppose to be perfect. Firstborns

will follow the rules but would rather be the one that makes them.

Ricky and Billy Holder

These were the names given to the boys by their friends and

neighbors as they were growing up. In fourth grade Ricky or

Eric was given a test to identify gifted students and he went on

to study at another school leaving the school he shared with

his brother.  Basketball and even baseball were both interests

to Eric (Ricky) and by ninth grade he was 6ft 3inches and had

a smooth three point shot and an easy dunk shot.  I don’t know

how his younger brother reacted to his brother the high

achiever but it must have put Eric at ease with his position in

the family. Eric did comment that his younger brother was

much “cooler” them himself in his taste in clothes and music

and he had to work to be cool too. Eric described himself

as an “egg head”.

Middle Class Environment

The boys grew up in a middle class neighborhood in

East Elmhurst, Queens.  This neighborhood was in

transition during the time the boys were growing up.

It had been a Jewish community that slowly changed

to a predominantly black neighborhood. Today the

family home has a market value of $417,000 dollars.

The family had a new Cadillac every year so things

must have been good for the Holder family.

Most of his parent’s friends were from the Caribbean

Islands and their children first generation Americans.

This gave Eric a different slant on being Black as his

parent’s friends came from Islands where the majority

were Black. Fitting into the American Black experience

was a learned one for Eric.

Finding His Identity

In the fourth grade in his local school he was selected

to participate in a program for gifted students. From here

he went on to Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan. This

was huge his younger brother said as its students were

primarily white and Jewish. He graduated 363 in a class

of 721 boys. There is no question his younger brother was

not going to dethrone him academically. He has said he lived

in two worlds, the White world and White friends in school and

his Black friends and his Black world at home  When in Jr.

High he read the autobiography of Malcolm X which gave him

a clearer view of life as a Black man. While in college he

played “big brother” to less advantaged Black children and

took them to NY City to show them what was outside their

world. He then went on to Columbia where he played freshman

basketball and was co-captain of his team. Got an AB degree

in History and a Law degree from Columbia. He further

identified with the American Black experience when he married

the sister of Vivian Malone Jones who led the effort to

integrate the University of Alabama

Work History the Boys go in Different Directions

Eric worked for the NAACP legal Defense fund during the

Summer of his college years . After graduation he joined the

US Justice Department Public Integrity Section.  Appointed

by President Ronald Reagan to serve as judge of the Superior

Court of the District of Columbia in 1988.  Was Deputy

Attorney General under Janet Reno in the Clinton

administration. He became US Attorney for the District of

Columbia under President Clinton. He was the senior legal

adviser to Barack Obama  during his presidential campaign

and severed as its co-chair. In December 2008 he was

nominee for Attorney General under President Obama.

He became the 82^nd Attorney General and the first African

American. His younger brother William became a Port

Authority Police Officer and retired in 1999. He now owns

six McDonald franchises and plays a lot of golf.

Controversies in His Career

Eric Holder the very nice man who just wants to follow the

rules and do things right has been involved in a number of

controversial decisions in his legal career. He was the

gatekeeper of the pardons under Clinton where Susan

Rosenberg and Linda Evans both former Weather

Underground members were pardoned. He also was involved

with the Mark Rich pardon. The fact that the Rich family had

given at least 1.5 million to Clinton interests may have had an

influence on getting his pardon. Holder was very involved in

the pardon of the 16 members of the Armed Forces of 

National Liberation whose mission was to secure Puerto Rico’s

independence. He has condemned the Guantanamo Bay 

detention Center. On April 23, 2010 the Arizona immigration 

law was passed.  In a May 13th house hearing he admitted that 

he had not read the statute. Holder also dropped the case 
against the Black Panther Party for voter intimidation. 
Currently he is being questioned about the ATF program 
“Fast and Furious” where guns were sold to straw buyers 
who in turn transported them across the Mexican border to 
the drug lords.

How will Eric Holder Address his Current Controversies?

Because of his birth order we have unmasked his real

personality. The firstborn that does not want to be

confrontational and carry out the requests of his superior. 

Look for him to not take direct responsibility for anything. 

He will have a lapse of memory or someone else was in 
charge. His nice guy helpful nature landed him the top 
spot in the justice department but it is Eric who will have 
to take a stand or stand down.

Dr. Robert V.V. Hurst is the author of Life’s Fingerprint: How

Birth Order Affects Your Path Throughout Life. Find out more

about birth order and how it will help you unmask your 

personality and those in your life. You may also want to visit  
my website  @ www.mybirthorder.com