Robert Morgenthau’s commitment to public service may have been inspired when in World War II, while serving in the U.S. Navy and commanding a destroyer in the Mediterranean, the ship was blown out from under him and he was left bobbing in the vast sea. Contemplating his likely demise, Robert Morgenthau made a pact with someone upstairs that if he came out alive he would devote his career to public service. What a boon to all of us that he was pulled out of the water and was able to fulfill that promise.
His public service commenced in 1961 when he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He brought to that office shrewd instincts, tenacity and an ambition to bring hard and significant cases. The Southern District has always had a great reputation of fine lawyers and high ethical standards, but the innovation that Robert Morgenthau established in that office was in creating special investigative units to dig into major crimes.
