Biography of Herb Cohen

Herb Cohen has been a practicing negotiator for the past four decades, intimately enmeshed in some of the world’s headline dramas – from hostile takeovers to hostage negotiations. His clients have included business executives, entrepreneurs, sports and theatrical agents plus large corporations as well as governmental agencies, such as the Department of State, F.B.I., CIA., The U.S. Conference of Mayors and The U.S. Department of Justice.

While serving as an adviser to Presidents Carter and Reagan on combating terrorism, he was involved in the Iranian Hostage Crisis and credited with helping to shape the government’s response to the skyjacking of TWA Flight 847 and the seizure of the Achille Lauro. His input and advice has been sought by the White House on a myriad of problems such as The Gulf Crisis, The seizure of the Japanese Embassy in Lima, Peru and, The Camp David Mideast Peace Talks.

Unlike many theorists, he was actively involved in the negotiations that settled both the N.F.L. Football Player’s Strike and the General Motors Chevymobile Litigation and also participated in the START Arms Control Negotiations with the Soviet Union.

He is the author of YOU CAN NEGOTIATE ANYTHING, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly a year and has been translated into twenty-one languages.

After two decades his new book Negotiate This, By Caring But Not T-H-A-T Much was published by Warner Books in Mid-September, 2003. Written in the same humorous style as his first book, it’s a must read for not only business people but parents, politicians and consumers. In fact, everyone who wants to establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships.

Herb and his wife Ellen have been married for over 40 years. Their children are Sharon, an attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of N.Y., Steve, formerly with the same office but now a partner in a New York Law Firm and Rich who is the author of Tough Jews, The Avengers, Lake Effect, and Machers and Rockers.