American judge (1891?1952)
Robert P. Patterson
|
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|
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In office
September 27, 1945 ? July 18, 1947
|
President
| Harry S. Truman
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Preceded by
| Henry L. Stimson
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Succeeded by
| Kenneth Claiborne Royall
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|
In office
December 16, 1940 ? September 27, 1945
|
President
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
|
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Preceded by
| Office established
|
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Succeeded by
| Kenneth Claiborne Royall
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|
In office
March 21, 1939 ? July 30, 1940
|
Appointed by
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
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Preceded by
| Martin Thomas Manton
|
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Succeeded by
| Jerome Frank
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|
In office
May 13, 1930 ? March 22, 1939
|
Appointed by
| Herbert Hoover
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Preceded by
| Thomas D. Thacher
|
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Succeeded by
| Simon H. Rifkind
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|
Born
| Robert Porter Patterson
(
1891-02-12
)
February 12, 1891
Glen Falls
,
New York
, U.S.
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Died
| January 22, 1952
(1952-01-22)
(aged 60)
Elizabeth
,
New Jersey
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Resting place
| Arlington National Cemetery
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Political party
| Republican
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Children
| Robert P. Patterson Jr.
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Education
| Union College
(
AB
)
Harvard University
(
LLB
)
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|
Allegiance
|
United States
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Branch/service
|
United States Army
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Years of service
| 1917?1919
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Rank
| Major
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Unit
| 306th Infantry Regiment
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Battles/wars
| World War I
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Awards
| Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Medal
Silver Star
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Robert Porter Patterson Sr.
(February 12, 1891 ? January 22, 1952) was an American judge who served as
Under Secretary of War
under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
and
U.S. Secretary of War
under President
Harry S. Truman
. He was a
US circuit judge
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
after he had been a
district judge
of the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
.
Education and career
[
edit
]
Born on February 12, 1891, in
Glens Falls
,
New York
,
[1]
the son of Lodice Edna (nee Porter) and Charles Robert Patterson,
[
citation needed
]
Patterson received an
Artium Baccalaureus
degree in 1912 from
Union College
and a
Bachelor of Laws
in 1915 from
Harvard Law School
.
[1]
He entered private practice in
New York City
from 1915 to 1916,
[1]
with what today is the law firm of
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler
,
[
citation needed
]
also serving with that firm in subsequent periods of private practice.
[
citation needed
]
He served in the
New York Army National Guard
from 1916 to 1917.
[1]
He served in the
United States Army
from 1917 to 1919,
[1]
attaining the rank of
Major
.
[
citation needed
]
He received the
Distinguished Service Cross
[2]
and
Silver Star
[2]
for heroism in France. Patterson served in the 306th Infantry Regiment which was assigned to the
77th Infantry Division
.
[
citation needed
]
He returned to private practice in New York City from 1919 to 1930.
[1]
Federal judicial service
[
edit
]
Patterson was nominated by President
Herbert Hoover
on April 24, 1930, to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
vacated by Judge
Thomas D. Thacher
.
[1]
He was confirmed by the
United States Senate
on May 13, 1930, and received his commission the same day.
[1]
His service terminated on March 22, 1939, due to his elevation to the Second Circuit.
[1]
Patterson was nominated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
on February 9, 1939, to a seat on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
vacated by Judge
Martin Thomas Manton
.
[1]
He was confirmed by the Senate on March 20, 1939, and received his commission on March 21, 1939.
[1]
His service terminated on July 30, 1940, due to his resignation.
[1]
War Department service
[
edit
]
Patterson served as a
United States Assistant Secretary of War
in 1940.
[1]
He served as
United States Under Secretary of War
from 1940 to 1945 under Secretary
Henry L. Stimson
.
[1]
He was instrumental in the mobilization of the armed forces preparatory to and during World War II.
[3]
President
Harry S. Truman
appointed Patterson as
United States Secretary of War
in 1945.
[1]
Truman initially was set to offer Patterson a seat on the
United States Supreme Court
which was left vacant by Justice
Owen J. Roberts
, however, with the resignation of
Henry L. Stimson
, Patterson instead became the Secretary of War.
[4]
Patterson advocated unifying the armed services (army and navy) and having a single chief of staff.
[5]
[6]
Steps to this effect were begun by the
National Security Act of 1947
and revised several times, finally by the
Goldwater-Nichols Act
of 1986.
[
citation needed
]
Patterson worked to promote more black participation and promotion with in the military, specifically during the late stages of
World War II
. He was instrumental in creating an African-American fighter group, known now as the
Tuskegee airmen
.
[7]
While sympathetic to black grievances, aspirations, and recommendations he was concerned that radical change would impede military preparedness during war.
[8]
After the war the "Board for Utilization of Negro Manpower" (or Gillem Board). released a report,
[9]
"Utilization of Negro Manpower in the Postwar Army Policy", in April 1946. that was signed off by Patterson: it recommended the retention of segregation, as that was a policy external to the military, but that the military introduce equal opportunity, as that would be the best use of military manpower. Patterson served until 1947.
[1]
Later career
[
edit
]
After declining an offer by President Truman to be reappointed to his former judgeship,
[
citation needed
]
Patterson returned to private practice in New York City from 1947 to 1952.
[1]
Later he became the President of the
Association of the Bar of the City of New York
, and the President of the
Council on Foreign Relations
.
[10]
Governor
Thomas E. Dewey
appointed Patterson along with New York City’s construction coordinator
Robert Moses
and former Justice
Charles C. Lockwood
as a member of the Temporary Long Island Railroad Commission, installed after the
Richmond Hill train crash
on November 22, 1950, that claimed 79 lives.
[11]
The Commission recommended the state purchase and operation by non-profit public authority of the railway service.
[12]
Personal life
[
edit
]
On January 3, 1920, Patterson married Margaret Tarleton Winchester (1897?1988); they had four children: Robert P. Patterson, Jr., Aileen W. Patterson, Susan H. Patterson and Virginia D. Patterson.
[
citation needed
]
Robert P. Patterson Jr.
was a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, until his death in 2015.
[13]
Patterson housed
William L. Marbury Jr.
, at his Georgetown home.
[
citation needed
]
After the war, he recommended Marbury to succeed him at the United Nations; upon advice from
Alger Hiss
, Marbury declined.
[
citation needed
]
(Marbury soon thereafter represented Hiss in his slander case against
Whittaker Chambers
.)
[14]
Death
[
edit
]
Patterson died on January 22, 1952,
[1]
returning from meeting a client, onboard
American Airlines Flight 6780
which crashed on the approach to
Newark Airport
in
Elizabeth
,
New Jersey
; he was age 60.
[
citation needed
]
Works
[
edit
]
In 2012, the University of Tennessee Press published
The World War I Memoirs of Robert P. Patterson: A Captain in the Great War,
edited by J. Garry Clifford.
[
citation needed
]
In 2014, the University of Tennessee Press published his previously unpublished 1947 memoir
Arming the Nation for War
, with a foreword by
Robert M. Morgenthau
, former Manhattan district attorney, and edited by Brian Waddell, associate professor at the University of Connecticut.
[
citation needed
]
- The World War I Memoirs of Robert P. Patterson: A Captain in the Great War
(2012)
- Arming the Nation for War: Mobilization, Supply, and the American War Effort in World War II
(2014)
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
Robert Porter Patterson Sr.
at the
Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
, a publication of the
Federal Judicial Center
.
- ^
a
b
Sterner, Doug.
"Valor awards for Robert Porter Patterson"
.
Military Times Hall of Valor
. Military Times
. Retrieved
January 12,
2017
.
- ^
Herman, Arthur.
Fredom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II,
pp. 157, 161, 165?166, 175, 236, 238?239, 284?285, 288, Random House, New York, 2012.
ISBN
978-1-4000-6964-4
.
- ^
Eiler,
op. cit.
pp. 443?444
- ^
History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense: The formative years, 1947?1950
. Government Printing Office. pp. 29?.
ISBN
978-0-16-087640-0
.
- ^
"Task of Occupation Declared in Peril; Patterson at Dinner Honoring War Correspondents Says More Appropriations Are Needed"
.
The New York Times
.
Washington DC
. 1946-11-23. p. 28
. Retrieved
2020-11-26
.
- ^
The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. (November 1945).
The Crisis
. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. pp. 324?.
- ^
Keith E. Eiler (2018).
Mobilizing America: Robert P. Patterson and the War Effort, 1940?1945
. Cornell University Press. pp. 135?.
ISBN
978-1-5017-2387-2
.
- ^
Cora Sol Goldstein (2009).
Capturing the German Eye: American Visual Propaganda in Occupied Germany
. University of Chicago Press. pp. 154?.
ISBN
978-0-226-30171-6
.
- ^
Gary J. Clifford; Robert Porter Patterson (2012).
The World War I Memoirs of Robert P. Patterson: A Captain in the Great War
. Univ. of Tennessee Press. pp. 15?.
ISBN
978-1-57233-882-1
.
- ^
Dewey Names 3 Men to Study 'All Aspects' of the L.I. Road
, The New York Times, November 26, 1950
- ^
Dewey Asks State Control of Long Island Road
,
Geneva Daily Times
, March 8, 1951
- ^
Robert Porter Patterson Jr.
at the
Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
, a publication of the
Federal Judicial Center
.
- ^
Marbury, Jr., William L. (1981).
"The Hiss-Chambers Libel Suit"
.
Maryland Historical Magazine
.
76
(1): 74 (Georgetown), 76 (UN job)
. Retrieved
23 November
2016
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Eiler, Keith. (1997)
Mobilizing America: Robert P. Patterson and the War Effort, 1940?1945
. Cornell University Press.
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Other
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