Hogan Haunts D.A. Race
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

After more than 30 years in office, the Manhattan district attorney had decided to run for a ninth term at an age when most people were either retired or dead. Widely regarded as effective and a symbol of integrity, he received largely bipartisan support as a figure above the fray of local politics. Staffers spoke glowingly about his undimmed prowess, but beneath this apparent unanimity of opinion, his influence silenced many critics. But now, an experienced challenger a generation younger, tired of perpetually silencing ambition in a city driven by that quality, had decided to offer the sitting district attorney his first contested primary since he first entered office. While the challenger campaigned on a theme of change and questioned whether the incumbent’s office was diverse enough, the age and health of the incumbent were the real underlying issues of the campaign.
New York politics have an odd way of echoing across the decades: The last time this scenario played out, it was 1973 and Frank Hogan was the legendarily long-serving Manhattan district attorney Now Robert Morgenthau fills that role in an almost complete, eerie parallel.
Between the two men, the island at the heart of New York has elected only two district attorneys since the days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Frank Hogan took over the office in 1941, after his boss, Tom Dewey, translated a mob-busting profile into a successful run for governor and then two unsuccessful runs for president. Hogan was Dewey’s administrative assistant, and the only Democrat the Republican D.A. recommended for the post. Tammany approved and the mild-mannered Irishman became the consensus choice, receiving support on the Republican as well as Democratic lines in all subsequent runs for the office. He respected power but nonetheless earned a reputation as an independent prosecutor, wiretapping a State Supreme Court judge, thanking mobster Frank Costello for getting him the Democratic nomination (here also, how little has changed) while overseeing prosecutions ranging from the Quiz Show Scandals to countless cases of bribery in local government.
Critics were few, but he notably clashed with a U.S. attorney about jurisdiction in a high-profile case involving Tammany Hall boss Carmine DeSapio. After 32 years in office, a longtime rising star in local Democratic politics named William Vanden Heuvel decided he would challenge Hogan in the primary, running under the venerable slogan “It’s Time for a Change.” The political establishment considered the challenge nothing less than impudent, but Vanden Heuvel fought a spirited race, charging, among other things, that Hogan’s 200-lawyer office was insufficiently diverse. In particular, one anecdote recounted that when one of the few female prosecutors in the office requested a transfer to the Homicide Unit, Hogan replied, “Bring me a letter from your husband.”
That female prosecutor’s name was Leslie Crocker Synder. The U.S. attorney who occasionally clashed with Hogan was named Robert Morgenthau.
Vanden Heuvel lost the primary to Hogan by a decisive margin. Two months later, Hogan entered the hospital. Despite public assurances from aides that the visit was routine, Hogan had in fact suffered a stroke and was being treated for lung cancer. But by the time the November election rolled around, there was no other name on the ballot. Hogan resigned and a deputy was named by Governor Malcolm Wilson to finish out his term. Robert Morgenthau ran for the office the following year and has been presiding over the office at 1 Hogan Place ever since.
The parallels run deeper still: Hogan was appointed during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a time when Morgenthau’s father served as FDR’s secretary of the Treasury. In addition, the men share a widely admired executive assistant, named Ida Van Lindt, who began working in the D.A.’s office after high school under Hogan and remained there under Morgenthau. There is some reason to suggest that a street near the D.A.’s office be renamed Ida Van Lindt Place to honor the generations who have selflessly served these two individuals.
With the primary date three weeks away, Judge Snyder’s campaign has unleashed a new salvo of television ads that seem, unintentionally or not, to rehash the themes from the Hogan-Vanden Heuvel campaign. The need for a change after three decades is paramount, with a new advertisement charging that Morgenthau has not elevated sufficient numbers of minorities to positions of influence. One of Snyder’s few high-profile individual endorsements has come from the former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, who likewise clashed with the D.A. on issues of jurisdiction. For his part, Mr. Morgenthau has responded with pages taken directly from Hogan’s 1973 campaign, citing a record that transcends political considerations and endorsements from influential individuals.
New York’s ossified primary system heavily favors incumbents, and a spirited campaign from Judge Snyder notwithstanding, the odds are currently in favor of Mr. Morgenthau prevailing in next month’s primary. There is little evidence of a Hogan-type surprise of concealed ill-health, despite the fact that Mr. Morgenthau is more than 15 years older than Hogan was at this time in his career. Loyal former Morgenthau aides such as Giuliani administration Criminal Justice Coordinator Steve Fishner attest that their old boss remains “vital, healthy and engaged in the office.”
Distinguished records aside, there does seem to be something fundamentally unhealthy about a public institution that yields so painfully to change. It is no doubt difficult to leave such an influential stage, but new blood tends to revitalize organizations. The parallels between Frank Hogan and Robert Morgenthau are on one level complimentary, but no one is immortal and no man irreplaceable. While no one should doubt that District Attorney Morgenthau has compiled a distinguished record in his lifetime of public service, in a city as dynamic as New York, competitive challenges such as Judge Snyder’s should be seen a vibrant sign of open democracy, not a personal affront. Frank Hogan’s unwise efforts to hold onto his office served the system better than the citizens. It is evidence that old ghosts should not be allowed to haunt important offices indefinitely.