Robert Porter Patterson Sr.(February 12, 1891 – January 22, 1952) was an American judge who served asUnder Secretary of Warunder PresidentFranklin D. RooseveltandU.S. Secretary of Warunder PresidentHarry S. Truman.He was aUS circuit judgeof theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuitafter he had been adistrict judgeof theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Education and career
editBorn on February 12, 1891, inGlens Falls, New York,[1]the son of Lodice Edna (née Porter) and Charles Robert Patterson,[citation needed]Patterson received anArtium Baccalaureusdegree in 1912 fromUnion Collegeand aBachelor of Lawsin 1915 fromHarvard Law School.[1]He entered private practice in New York City from 1915 to 1916,[1]with what today is the law firm ofPatterson Belknap Webb & Tyler,[citation needed]also serving with that firm in subsequent periods of private practice.[citation needed]He served in theNew York Army National Guardfrom 1916 to 1917.[1]He served in theUnited States Armyfrom 1917 to 1919,[1]attaining the rank ofMajor.[citation needed]He received theDistinguished Service Cross[2]andSilver Star[2]for heroism in France. Patterson served in the 306th Infantry Regiment which was assigned to the77th Infantry Division.[citation needed]He returned to private practice in New York City from 1919 to 1930.[1]
Federal judicial service
editPatterson was nominated by PresidentHerbert Hooveron April 24, 1930, to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New Yorkvacated by JudgeThomas D. Thacher.[1]He was confirmed by theUnited States Senateon 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 PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelton February 9, 1939, to a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuitvacated by JudgeMartin 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 aUnited States Assistant Secretary of Warin 1940.[1]He served asUnited States Under Secretary of Warfrom 1940 to 1945 under SecretaryHenry L. Stimson.[1]He was instrumental in the mobilization of the armed forces preparatory to and during World War II.[3]PresidentHarry S. Trumanappointed Patterson asUnited States Secretary of Warin 1945.[1]Truman initially was set to offer Patterson a seat on theUnited States Supreme Courtwhich was left vacant by JusticeOwen J. Roberts,however, with the resignation ofHenry 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 theNational Security Act of 1947and revised several times, finally by theGoldwater-Nichols Actof 1986.[citation needed]
Patterson worked to promote more black participation and promotion with in the military, specifically during the late stages ofWorld War II.He was instrumental in creating an African-American fighter group, known now as theTuskegee 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
editAfter 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 theAssociation of the Bar of the City of New York,and the President of theCouncil on Foreign Relations.[10]GovernorThomas E. Deweyappointed Patterson along with New York City’s construction coordinatorRobert Mosesand former JusticeCharles C. Lockwoodas a member of the Temporary Long Island Railroad Commission, installed after theRichmond Hill train crashon 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
editOn 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 housedWilliam L. Marbury Jr.,at his Georgetown home.[citation needed]After the war, he recommended Marbury to succeed him at the United Nations; upon advice fromAlger Hiss,Marbury declined.[citation needed](Marbury soon thereafter represented Hiss in his slander case againstWhittaker Chambers.)[14]
Death
editPatterson died on January 22, 1952,[1]returning from meeting a client, onboardAmerican Airlines Flight 6780which crashed on the approach toNewark AirportinElizabeth,New Jersey;he was age 60.[citation needed]
Works
editIn 2012, the University of Tennessee Press publishedThe 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 memoirArming the Nation for War,with a foreword byRobert 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)
Legacy
editIn 1953, Union College named liberal arts scholarships in the memory of Patterson.[15]An army reserve building on the Bronx campus ofNew York Universitywas named after Patterson in 1953.[16]
References
edit- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrRobert Porter Patterson Sr.at theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges,a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.
- ^abSterner, Doug."Valor awards for Robert Porter Patterson".Military Times Hall of Valor.Military Times.RetrievedJanuary 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.ISBN978-1-4000-6964-4.
- ^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–.ISBN978-0-16-087640-0.
- ^ "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.Retrieved2020-11-26.
- ^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–.ISBN978-1-5017-2387-2.
- ^Cora Sol Goldstein (2009).Capturing the German Eye: American Visual Propaganda in Occupied Germany.University of Chicago Press. pp. 154–.ISBN978-0-226-30171-6.
- ^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–.ISBN978-1-57233-882-1.
- ^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 theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges,a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.
- ^Marbury, Jr., William L. (1981)."The Hiss-Chambers Libel Suit".Maryland Historical Magazine.76(1): 74 (Georgetown), 76 (UN job).Retrieved23 November2016.
- ^"College Plans Scholarships".The Times Record.1953-11-04. p. 17.Retrieved2024-07-27– viaNewspapers.
- ^"Patterson Tribute Paid at Ceremony".The Post-Standard.1953-11-05. p. 1.Retrieved2024-07-27– viaNewspapers.
Sources
edit- Eiler, Keith. (1997)Mobilizing America: Robert P. Patterson and the War Effort, 1940–1945.Cornell University Press.
External links
edit- Robert Porter Patterson Sr.at theBiographical Directory of Federal Judges,a publication of theFederal Judicial Center.
