A man in full

Robert Morgenthau did far too many things to chronicle in the life that ended Sunday, 10 days short of his 100th birthday. But he really did one thing, over and over: He served. As his grandfather had done as U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, telling the world about the genocide of Armenians by Turks. As his father had done as treasury secretary to President Franklin Roosevelt, breaking through State Department intransigence intended to prevent the United States from rescuing Jewish refugees.

While dad was huddling with the commander-in-chief, young Robert, never one to use his privilege as a protective shield, was commanding Navy ships. One was torpedoed by Nazi warplanes. Another was attacked by suicide bombers in the Pacific theater.

When he came home, he became a prosecutor, first in the federal system and then getting elected, in 1975, as Manhattan’s district attorney.

A man of many talents had found his perfect perch. For 35 years, he was one of the very good guys, leading a hard-charging army of expertly trained law enforcers to lock up wrongdoers.

Mother-son murder teams. People who killed children. Subway vigilantes. Rapists. Mafia bosses. People who robbed others at knifepoint and people who did it bloodlessly while wearing the finest suits.

In what spare time carved out, he helped create New York City’s Holocaust museum. Chaired the board of the Police Athletic League. And was a relentless voice, even into his 90s, for repairing our broken immigration bureaucracy, passing sane gun laws and more.

Bob Morgenthau was born into wealth. He was raised at the knee of power. Lesser men like that find a comfortable sinecure, give enough money to the right causes and call it a day. Ever hungry, never satisfied, he served.