NEW DATE – This lecture will now take place on Sunday, December 3, 2023!

WHC is pleased to welcome author Andrew Meier to the Amram Scholar Series on Sunday, December 3 to discuss his book Morgenthau.

This lecture will take place at 10:30 am at Temple.

It is free and open to everyone, but RSVP is required.

RSVP BELOW

About the Book:

After coming to America from Germany in 1866, the Morgenthaus made history in international diplomacy, in domestic politics, and in America’s criminal justice system. With unprecedented, exclusive access to family archives, award-winning journalist and biographer Andrew Meier vividly chronicles how the Morgenthaus amassed a fortune in Manhattan real estate, advised presidents, advanced the New Deal, exposed the Armenian genocide, rescued victims of the Holocaust, waged war in the Mediterranean and Pacific, and, from a foundation of private wealth, built a dynasty of public service. Former mayor Ed Koch said they were “the closest we’ve got to royalty in New York City.”

Lazarus Morgenthau arrived in America dreaming of rebuilding the fortune he had lost in his homeland. He ultimately died destitute, but the family would rise again with the ascendance of Henry, who became a wealthy and powerful real estate baron. From there, the Morgenthaus went on to influence the most consequential presidency of the twentieth century, as Henry’s son Henry Jr. became FDR’s longest-serving aide, his Treasury secretary during the war, and his confidant of thirty years. Finally, there was Robert Morgenthau, a decorated World War II hero who would become the longest-tenured district attorney in the history of New York City. Known as the “DA for life,” he oversaw the most consequential and controversial prosecutions in New York of the last fifty years, from the war on the Mafia to the infamous Central Park Jogger case.

The saga of the Morgenthaus has lain half-hidden in the shadows for too long. At heart, a family history, Morgenthau is also an American epic, as sprawling and surprising as the country itself.

Click here to purchase this book through WHC’s Mitzvah Mall

About the Author:

Andrew Meier is the author of Black Earth: A Jour­ney Through Rus­sia After the Fall and The Lost Spy: An Amer­i­can in Stal­in’s Secret Ser­vice. A for­mer Moscow cor­re­spon­dent for Time, he has contributed to The New York Times Mag­a­zine, among numer­ous oth­er pub­li­ca­tions, for more than two decades. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Brook­lyn, New York.

This lecture is presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council.