Robert M. Morgenthau

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Robert Morris Morgenthau

In office
1975 (1975) – incumbent
Preceded by Richard Kuh
Constituency New York County, New York
Born July 31, 1919 (1919-07-31) (age 90)
New York City, New York, USA
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Lucinda Franks
Alma mater Amherst College, Yale Law School

Robert Morris Morgenthau (born July 31, 1919) is an American lawyer. Since 1975, he has been the District Attorney for New York County, the borough of Manhattan. It was reported on February 27, 2009, that Morgenthau will not be seeking re-election.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Robert Morris Morgenthau was born in 1919 in New York City into a prominent Jewish family that had emigrated from Germany in 1866. He is the son of long-time Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. His grandfather Henry Morgenthau, Sr. was United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Before going into diplomatic service, Henry Morgenthau, Sr. had made a fortune in real estate and then became a strong financial backer of President Woodrow Wilson. His grandmother was born in Montgomery, Alabama.[2] From his earliest days, Robert Morris Morgenthau was well connected politically. The Morgenthau family home was near Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Springwood Estate at Hyde Park, New York and he grew up knowing Roosevelt.

[edit] Early years

After graduating from the New Lincoln School, Deerfield Academy, and Amherst College, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving for four and a half years, during World War II. He attained the final rank of Lieutenant Commander and served as the executive officer of the USS Harry F. Bauer. He saw action in both the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters, mostly aboard destroyers.[3] Morgenthau graduated from Yale Law School in 1948 and joined the New York law firm of Patterson, Belknap & Webb, becoming a partner in 1954.

[edit] U.S. Attorney

In 1961, after twelve years of practicing corporate law, Morgenthau accepted an appointment from President John F. Kennedy as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was the Democratic nominee for governor of New York in 1962, but was defeated by the incumbent Nelson Rockefeller. He then was reappointed U.S. Attorney and served for the remainder of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.[4] As a United States Attorney Morgenthau established a special unit to investigate securities fraud and prosecuted highly publicized bribery cases against city officials and IRS attorneys and accountants.[citation needed]

[edit] Departure

In January 1969, following the election of President Richard M. Nixon, Morgenthau remained in office and for months resisted increasingly public pressures from the Nixon Administration to resign. He retained support from New York's liberal Republican U.S. Senators Jacob K. Javits and Charles Goodell. Morgenthau and his supporters claimed that replacing him would disrupt his work on vital cases and that Nixon might be seeking to prevent Morgenthau from pursuing investigations that would prove embarrassing to the President or his friends. Nonetheless, Morgenthau's position became increasingly untenable. While well-regarded, he was after all a Democrat thought to harbor political aspirations, thus Morgenthau's insistence on remaining in office seemed increasingly unreasonable to even some who initially had thought the Nixon Administration should not show him the door so quickly. He was eventually forced out of office at the end of 1969[5] and succeeded as U.S. Attorney by Republican Whitney North Seymour, Jr.

[edit] Return to politics

Afterwards Morgenthau served briefly in the reformist administration of Mayor John V. Lindsay as a Deputy Mayor before resigning to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1970. Morgenthau was less successful in raising funds and developing support than two other candidates, Arthur Goldberg and Howard Samuels and within weeks he withdrew from the race. Goldberg won the nomination and was subsequently defeated by Rockefeller.[6]

[edit] District Attorney of New York County

Morgenthau returned to private life until 1974, when he was elected to the office of District Attorney of New York County. This was a special election caused by the death of Frank Hogan, who had served as D.A. for more than thirty years. Morgenthau defeated Hogan's interim successor, Richard Kuh. He was elected to a full term in 1977 and has been re-elected seven times. He has not been opposed in a general election since 1985.[7]

[edit] 2005 election campaign

Morgenthau announced in 2005, aged 85, that he would run for a ninth full term as district attorney. For the first time in decades, he encountered a vigorous primary opponent, former state court judge Leslie Crocker Snyder.[8][9] Snyder won the endorsement of the New York Times which, like virtually all of the city's establishment, had long been supportive of Morgenthau. [10]

Morgenthau won the Democratic primary with 59% of the vote to Snyder's 41%. In the general election, he was once again the candidate for all political parties in the election, having been nominated by the Democrats, Republicans and the Working Families Party.[11] Morgenthau won re-election with more than 99% of the vote.

[edit] Retirement

On February 27, 2009 Morgenthau announced that he would not seek re-election in 2009, saying "I never expected to be here this long ... [R]ecently I figured that I’d served 25 years beyond the normal retirement age."[12][13] He will be replaced by Cy Vance Jr., a prosecutor under Morgenthau and the son of former President Jimmy Carter's secretary of state, who won the primary election on September 15, 2009.[14]

[edit] Notable Cases

  • Mark David Chapman (1981): Chapman pled guilty to killing John Lennon[15]
  • Bernie Goetz, the "Subway Vigilante" (1987): Charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and several gun law violations after he shot four men who were trying to rob him in 1984.[16]
  • Robert Chambers, the "Preppie Killer" (1988): After confessing to killing an 18-year-old girl, Chambers was convicted of manslaughter and served 15 years in prison.[17]
  • Central Park Jogger (1989): Five teenage suspects were convicted of assaulting and raping a woman in Central Park. The convictions were later vacated in 2002 when another man said he attacked the victim.[18]
  • BCCI (1991): The fraud investigation revealed that the bank laundered money for criminal enterprises. Morgenthau claimed jurisdiction because millions of the laundered dollars flowed through Manhattan. Ultimately, the bank was seized by international regulators, and its liquidators pleaded guilty to all charges and forfeited all of the bank's American assets.[19]
  • Sante and Kenny Kimes (2000): Mom-and-son grifters convicted of murder.[20]
  • Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz (2005): The top two executives of Tyco were found guilty of stealing more than $150 million from the company they had been entrusted to manage.[21]

[edit] Notable Assistant District Attorneys under Morgenthau

[edit] Television character

The character of District Attorney Adam Schiff (played by actor Steven Hill), the New York district attorney in the long running TV series Law & Order, was loosely based on Morgenthau. It is reported that Morgenthau was a fan of the character.[3][27]

[edit] Personal life

Morgenthau was widowed and remarried, having five children by his first wife and two by his second, journalist Lucinda Franks.

[edit] Affiliations

Morgenthau's other principal civic activities are the Police Athletic League (PAL), which he has served since 1962, first as president and then chairman, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage, of which he is chairman.

[edit] Award

In 2005, Morgenthau received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York".

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nicholas Confessore, Morgenthau Won't Seek Re-election The New York Times (February 27, 2009).
  2. ^ Morgenthau testimony to Senate Judiciary Committee, July 16, 2009
  3. ^ a b Robert Morgenthau from the Jewish Virtual Library
  4. ^ Aborn For Manhattan DA or Morgenthau Forever?, NYPD Confidential (December 1, 2008).
  5. ^ Richard Perez-Pena, U.S. Attorney Leaving Post In Manhattan The New York Times (December 3, 1992).
  6. ^ David L. Stebenne, Arthur J. Goldberg, New Deal Liberal (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) pp. 375-378. ISBN 0-19-50710-50.
  7. ^ MSNBC report on Morgenthau
  8. ^ Geoffrey Gray, Morgenthau Gets Witchy About Leslie Crocker Snyder, New York Magazine (November 6, 2005).
  9. ^ Leslie Eaton, Snyder Faults Morgenthau on Drug Laws, The New York Times (September 9, 2005).
  10. ^ When to End an Era, The New York Times (August 30, 2005).
  11. ^ http://www.judicialaccountability.org/articles/judgessnyderandda.htm
  12. ^ Karen Freifeld, Morgenthau, Manhattan Prosecutor Since 1961, Won't Run Again, Bloomberg (February 29, 2008).
  13. ^ http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/saturday/news/ny-nymorg286052675feb28,0,6367166.story
  14. ^ http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/cy_vance_wins_manhattan_da_race_klECEXoy4qLaf20XLBx4iO
  15. ^ Kenneth Lovett, Mark David Chapman tells his version of John Lennon slay, New York Daily News (August 19, 2008).
  16. ^ Norimitsu Onishi, Court Case Nudges Goetz Out of Cocoon;Subway Gunman Back in Spotlight, The New York Times (December 31, 1995).
  17. ^ Jose Martinez, Preppie killer Robert Chambers pleads guilty to selling cocaine, assaulting cop, New York Daily News (August 11, 2008).
  18. ^ Prosecutor: Drop all convictions in Central Park jogger case, CNN (December 10, 2002).
  19. ^ Seth Faison Jr., COMPANY NEWS; Saudi Banker Is Charged With Fraud in B.C.C.I. Case, The New York Times (July 2, 1992).
  20. ^ http://crime.about.com/b/2005/03/22/sante-and-kenneth-kimes-get-life-sentences.htm
  21. ^ Joel Roberts, Tyco Execs Found Guilty: Kozlowski, Swartz Convicted For Looting Company Of $600 Million, CBS News (June 17, 2005).
  22. ^ Kathy Chu, Cuomo makes a name for himself in replacing Spitzer, USA Today (April 24, 2007).
  23. ^ http://uk.reuters.com/article/reutersComService_2_MOLT/idUKTRE50L72420090122
  24. ^ Daniel Gross, Eliot Spitzer: How New York's attorney general became the most powerful man on Wall Street., Slate (October 21, 2004).
  25. ^ Katharine Q. Seelye, John F. Kennedy Jr., Heir To a Formidable Dynasty, The New York Times (July 19, 1999).
  26. ^ Katherine Bouton, LINDA FAIRSTEIN VS. RAPE, The New York Times (February 25, 1990).
  27. ^ Robert Kolker, Happy 85th Birthday, Bob Morgenthau, New York Magazine (July 19, 2004).
Party political offices
Preceded by
W. Averell Harriman		 Democratic Nominee for Governor of New York
1962		 Succeeded by
Frank D. O'Connor
Legal offices
Preceded by
Richard Kuh		 District Attorney - New York County, New York
1975-2009		 Succeeded by
Cyrus Vance, Jr.( presumptive)
Preceded by
Morton S. Robson		 U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
1961-1969		 Succeeded by
Whitney North Seymour, Jr.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Morgenthau"
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