Morgenthau Won’t Seek Re-election (Manhattan DA)

[brooklynite]

Robert M. Morgenthau, who for three and a half decades served as Manhattan’s district attorney, becoming an institution in the city’s law enforcement and political landscape, said Friday that he will not run for a ninth full term.

Mr. Morgenthau’s departure leaves a cloud of uncertainty over an office where most of the lawyers have never known another boss. The vacancy of one of Manhattan’s plum elected posts should lead to a crowded and interesting election this fall, with Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a former assistant, a potential candidate to get Mr. Morgenthau’s endorsement, according to a friend of the district attorney.

Mr. Morgenthau, 89, was elected in 1974 to fill the remaining term of Frank S. Hogan, who had resigned because of ill health after 32 years in the post. Before that, Mr. Morgenthau served eight and a half years as the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, having been appointed by President John F. Kennedy.

When approached at his office on Friday, Mr. Morgenthau confirmed that he would be retiring at the end of his term.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/28/nyregion/28morgenthau.html?_r=1&hp