Staff Report

Poughkeepsie Journal

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – He hung out with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, cooked hot dogs for the king and queen of England in Hyde Park and inspired a district attorney character on the popular television show "Law & Order."

Robert Morgenthau died Sunday, 10 days before his 100th birthday. He leaves behind deep local roots and a long legacy of public service.

Morgenthau died at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital after a short illness, his wife Lucinda Franks told The New York Times.

Morgenthau may be best known for his 35 years as Manhattan's district attorney, who prosecuted some of New York City's most high-profile cases against organized and white-collar crime. But he was also an East Fishkill farmer, a U.S. Navy veteran, a father and husband.

Morgenthau was born on July 31, 1919, to Henry Morgenthau Jr. — who served as President Roosevelt's secretary of the Treasury — and Elinor Fatman Morgenthau. Morgenthau's grandfather, Henry Morgenthau Sr., was a wealthy investor and ambassador to Turkey under President Woodrow Wilson.

Morgenthau grew up in New York City. But he spent long weekends and summers at the Hopewell Junction-based Fishkill Farms that his family purchased in 1913.

"I never went away to camp," Morgenthau told the Journal during an interview in 2014. "All of my friends did. I just went to the farm. I used to prune apple trees, ride horses."

Morgenthau said his father "considered Fishkill Farms to be his home, and wanted to be sure that it continued as a working farm. It's a legacy I'm trying to maintain."

The Morgenthaus often hosted the Roosevelts at Fishkill Farms in the summertime, since the first couple would return to their Hyde Park homestead from Washington, D.C., in August.

In a statement posted to the business' Facebook page, the farm staff said it was "so lucky to have had such an extraordinary and inspiring person in our lives and take comfort in knowing the farm brought him so much joy, and that his vision for our growth and diversification will be continued with his light in our hearts."

Morgenthau spent World War II traveling aboard destroyers in the North Atlantic, the South Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Pacific theater, rising to the rank of lieutenant commander.

He was an attorney for a private-practice firm in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy, an acquaintance, appointed him U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. It was a role Morgenthau kept for nearly a decade, except for a brief period when he launched a failed run for governor.

Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro on Monday called Morgenthau "one of New York and Dutchess County's most distinguished residents for nearly a century," in a Facebook post.

His first wife, Martha Pattridge, whom he met while attending Amherst College in Massachusetts, died of cancer in 1972. Morgenthau was a 53-year-old widowed father-of-five when met his second wife, 26-year-old reporter Lucinda Franks, the following year. They married in 1977 and had two children.

"He needed that fire and activity in his life and … he has steadied me over the years," Franks has told the Journal.

Morgenthau was elected district attorney of Manhattan in November 1974. He held the spot for nine terms, longer than any other city district attorney, before retiring in 2009. Among the assistant district attorneys who worked for Morgenthau were Andrew Cuomo, Eliot Spitzer and John F. Kennedy Jr.

Franks has credited her husband's success to his ability to "shut things off and never look back at them unless it's necessary."

'The Boss,' district attorney

As Manhattan's district attorney, there were a lot of hard days. Morgenthau's team of 500 lawyers conducted about 3.5 million criminal prosecutions, according to his biography.

He became known as "The Boss" to attorneys who worked for him, and he focused on organized crime, tax fraud, white-collar crime and, later, the financial foundation of terrorism.

"I thought if you're prosecuting teenagers and (people) who break into a grocery store, you've got to prosecute the people who put their money offshore in bank accounts and evade paying taxes," Morgenthau said.

"Law & Order" television show creator Dick Wolf has called Morgenthau "the greatest district attorney in the history of New York" and used him as the basis for the character Adam Schiff, the district attorney played by actor Steven Hill in the series' first decade, according to The Associated Press.

The District Attorney's Office was high profile. Morgenthau said 57 members of organized crime were convicted and 82 former assistant district attorneys went on to become judges.

However, Morgenthau insisted that convictions weren’t everything.

“The prosecutor’s job is to protect the public and to administer the laws,” Morgenthau once said, deriding district attorneys who collected convictions like “notches on a gun.”

Though the city's violent crime rate dropped considerably during his time in office, there also was criticism, including complaints of his office being slow to respond to police corruption, according to reports published in The New York Times. The newspaper endorsed an opponent in 2005, Leslie Crocker Snyder, because Morgenthau was so "set in his ways," according to the Times' editorial.

Snyder and her supporters were among those who said he was tough on white-collar crime, but didn't crack down hard enough on street crime or domestic violence. There also was the infamous Central Park jogger case of 1990, which has been back in the public consciousness with the recent Netflix series "When They See Us." Five black and Hispanic teenage defendants were wrongfully charged with attacking and raping a white woman who had gone for a run in the park.

The five served years in prison before their convictions were thrown out in 2002 because of new evidence; they sued police and prosecutors for $250 million before recently settling. Morgenthau didn't declare them innocent but withdrew all charges and did not seek a retrial, The Associated Press reported.

The wins, though, were plentiful. On white-collar crime, his office reached a $300 million settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. in 2003; the banks' payments settled charges accusing them of helping Enron Corp. manipulate its financial statements and mislead investors. And Morgenthau prosecuted Tyco Corporation CEO Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark Swartz, convicted in 2005 of 22 counts of grand larceny, conspiracy, falsifying records and violating business law, according to The Associated Press.

Staying busy after retirement

When Morgenthau did decide to retire, he backed Cyrus Vance Jr. for district attorney.

Vance, who had spent several years as an assistant district attorney under Morgenthau, took over in 2010.

Of Morgenthau, Vance has told the Journal, "I was willing to succeed him but not oppose him. I had no intent to run against him. I would have lost. … He was a mentor to me. It was a personal point of pride for me to have his support, as he was someone I have such great respect for."

Vance on Monday said Morgenthau was a “hallowed” figure among the prosecutors who worked for him.

“His crime-fighting strategies also played an important role in facilitating New York City’s remarkable decline in homicides and violent crime — and its current status as America’s safest big city,” Vance said in an emailed statement to the Associated Press.

After his retirement, Morgenthau belonged to a number of boards and organizations, and worked five days a week for Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

In April, Franks and Morgenthau were honored by the Vassar Haiti Project for their achievements in the fields of international social justice and literature.

"Bob Morgenthau has long stood for the rights and dignity of every human being, particularly the underserved and underrepresented,” said Andrew Meade, director of International Services, assistant dean of Student Growth and Engagement at Vassar College, and co-founder, with his wife Lila Meade, of the Vassar Haiti Project in a statement in advance of the event. “He has been a longtime supporter of our work, and recently helped us to land a grant that is successfully reforesting the mountains of Haiti. Lucinda ... has participated with VHP hands-on for over 10 years. She loves to volunteer at our events with Vassar students, whom she provides with abundant and invaluable advice on writing and journalism."

Fishkill Farms meant the world to Robert Morgenthau, who took over the bulk of farming responsibilities and 270 acres of orchards once Henry Morgenthau Jr. died in 1967. It was leased to outside growers for a time, but Morgenthau and his youngest son Josh began operations again with a devotion to "pick your own" and community-supported agriculture.

Molinaro said Morgenthau's "legacy continues" in Dutchess, especially.

"It will live on, not the least of which, in family moments, memories made, and apples picked at Fishkill Farms thanks to his son Josh’s commitment to his family, their land, our agricultural industry and his shared legacy," he said.

Morgenthau's 100th birthday was celebrated early last month, at an event hosted by the Police Athletic League event, the charity for which Morgenthau served as chairman for more than half a century.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Timeline

1913

Henry Morgenthau Jr., Robert Morgenthau's father, purchases Fishkill Farms in Hopewell Junction.

July 31, 1919

Robert Morgenthau is born.

June 1939

Helps prepare hot dogs for king and queen of England during the royal couple's visit to Hyde Park.

1940

Enlists in U.S. Navy.

June 20, 1942

Helps host then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt and then-British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at Fishkill Farms.

1961

Appointed as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1961 by friend and then-President John F. Kennedy.

1962

Launches failed bid for governor; ends up back in U.S. attorney role.

1970

Resigns as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York after Richard Nixon announces that he's fired him.

1972

Wife Martha Pattridge dies of cancer.

1974

Becomes Manhattan district attorney.

1977

Marries second wife, reporter Lucinda Franks.

2002

Morgenthau withdraws charges against five originally charged in infamous Central Park jogger case.

2003

His office reaches $300 million settlement with banks in relation to Enron Corp.

2005

Convicts Tyco Corporation's CEO and CFO on 22 counts.

2008

Reopens Fishkill Farms with son Joshua Morgenthau.

Late 2009

Retires as Manhattan district attorney after 35 years.

2010

Joins law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.