Born on July 31, 1919, to the former U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Morgenthau attended nearby Deerfield Academy before coming to Amherst in 1937. In the spring of his junior year, he was rejected from enlisting in the Army Reserves because he had not yet finished college. However, a few months later, he enlisted in the United States Navy and spent his 21st birthday aboard the battleship USS Wyoming before serving in World War II. His naval career taught him many of the lessons he would later use in law.
“In order to hold even the lowest level of court martials, you had to be a lieutenant or above, and since the captain didn’t want to do it, I became the court martial officer aboard the ship,” Morgenthau said in an interview with LifeStyle Magazine. “It was there where I learned about plea bargaining. I didn’t know how to try a case, just to plea bargain.”
After the war, Morgenthau left the navy and enrolled in Yale Law School, and in January 1975, became New York District Attorney, the role he has held until now. At the time, New York was combating high crime rates, rampant drug abuse and a decrease in wealth; in 1975 alone, there were 650 murders in Manhattan. However, in the three decades since, Morgenthau’s efforts, which have focused on seeking justice for the victims, have helped reduce crime by 85 percent in 2003.
“Crime may have changed over the years, but crime is always important to the victim,” he said. “I’ve never changed that perspective and I’ve tried to instill that in all the people who work for me.”
With a career that has spanned two millennia, Morgenthau helped New York enter the 21st century, adding Spanish-speaking staff and interpreters to his office, prosecuting slumlords and establishing special investigatory units for sexual crimes and consumer affairs. He also reformed the homicide bureau, modernizing positions that had been in place since the 1930s.
Famous cases that Morgenthau undertook include the murder of John Lennon and the larceny case in which the two CEOs of Tyco International stole more than $150 million from the company.
After nine terms in office, Morgenthau has finally decided to step down. He told reporters, “It took me a while to realize I was getting older.”
Despite his retirement, however, his legacy will remain in New York for many years to come, a sentiment captured in The New York Times.
“Mr. Morgenthau has been a major political force for a very long time in New York City. But his real legacy will be the standards he set for the most important public attorney’s office in the country.”