Robert MorgenthauNew York City prosecutor dies just short of his 100th birthday
Born into a long line of Democratic bureaucrats, Morgenthau was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1961 by John F. Kennedy, staying there through the Lyndon Johnson and early part of the Richard Nixon administration, before Nixon, afraid that Morgenthau was going to pursue prosecutions that would embarrass the Presidency, fired him at the end of 1969. (One of Morgenthau's successors, Preet Bharara, would meet a nearly identical fate 48 years later.)
After a brief run as deputy mayor of New York City, he settled into the position of Manhattan District Attorney from 1974 to 2009. He enjoyed broad bipartisan support during his run as district attorney, although he largely relied on his family connections and nepotism to staff his large network of assistant DAs who did most of the dirty work: Andrew Cuomo, JFK Jr., RFK Jr., and Sonia Sotomayor, along with his present day successor Cyrus Vance, Jr. He justified it by noting that without nepotism, he himself would have never had the opportunities he had.
Morgenthau came to office at a time in which New York City was teeming with crime and corruption. By the time of his retirement, the crime in the city had largely come back under control, which Morgenthau's office was credited with having a hand in doing through aggressive prosecutions. Among the higher-profile cases were those of mother-and-son thieves Sante and Kenny Kimes; John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman; Bernie Goetz, the "Subway Vigilante;" Robert Chambers, the "Preppie Killer;" Tupac Shakur, rapper whom Morgenthau convicted of sex offenses; Dennis Kozlowski, who embezzled hundreds of millions from Tyco Security Systems; and the Central Park Five, which Morgenthau later conceded was a mistake.
Morgenthau died July 21, age 99, ten days short of his 100th birthday.
Obituary from BloombergWikipedia
