One turf battle with then-U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani came when both went after the same defense contractor. It took weeks before Morgenthau agreed to share documents his office had seized in trying to be first to bring charges against the shady outfit.
Morgenthau ran unopposed in most elections for district attorney. In 2005, at 86, he faced his stiffest challenge in 20 years. The New York Times endorsed his challenger in the Democratic primary, former State Supreme Court Justice Leslie Crocker Snyder, stating, “it is time for a change.” Morgenthau won re-election with 59% of the vote.
Morgenthau announced in February 2009 that he wouldn’t seek a 10th term. “I never expected to be here this long,” he said.
In 2010, at age 90, he joined Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a corporate law firm in New York.
His first wife, Martha, died in 1972. They had five children: Joan, Anne, Elinor, Robert P. and Barbara. With his second wife, the former Lucinda Franks, a former New York Times reporter, he had two children, Joshua and Amy.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.