History of the Office


The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has a long tradition of excellence and non-partisanship and is considered one of the nation’s preeminent prosecutor’s offices. Since the 1930s, there have been just five elected District Attorneys, and each has had a significant impact on modern criminal prosecution.

SELECT TIME PERIOD
  • 1817-1937
    Early District Attorneys
  • 1938-1941
    Thomas E. Dewey
  • 1942-1974
    Frank S. Hogan
  • 1975-2009
    Robert M. Morgenthau
  • 2010-2021
    Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.,
  • 2022-Present
    Alvin L. Bragg, Jr.

Early District Attorneys

Until 1801, Manhattan did not have a District Attorney; instead, criminal cases were prosecuted personally by the New York State Attorney General. Manhattan’s first District Attorneys were appointed by the Council of Appointment, a body created by the New York Constitution of 1777 for the purpose of appointing government officials for which the Constitution provided no other means of appointment or election. Under the Constitution of 1821, District Attorneys were appointed by the now-abolished Court of General Sessions, a process that continued until the Constitution of 1846, which provided for the popular election of District Attorneys. The first elected Manhattan District Attorney was John McKeon, who was elected in 1847 after having been appointed the previous year. 

Complete list of Manhattan District Attorneys

  • Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., 2022- Present 
  • Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., 2010 – 2021
  • Robert M. Morgenthau, 1975 – 2009
  • Richard H. Kuh, 1974 – 1974
  • Frank S. Hogan, 1942 – 1974
  • Thomas E. Dewey, 1938 – 1941
  • William C. Dodge, 1934 – 1937
  • Thomas C.T. Crain, 1930 – 1933
  • Joab H. Banton, 1922 – 1929
  • Edward Swann, 1916 – 1921
  • Charles Albert Perkins, 1915 – 1915
  • Charles Seymour Whitman, 1910 – 1914
  • William Travers Jerome, 1902 – 1909
  • Eugene A. Philbin, 1900 – 1901
  • Asa Bird Gardiner, 1898 – 1900
  • William Marvin K. Olcott, 1896 – 1897
  • Vernon M. Davis, 1896 – 1896
  • John R. Fellows, 1894 – 1896
  • De Lancey Nicoll, 1891 – 1893
  • John R. Fellows, 1888 – 1890
  • Randolph B. Martine, 1885 – 1887
  • Peter B. Olney, 1883 – 1884
  • Wheeler H. Peckham, 1883 – 1883
  • John McKeon, 1882 – 1883
  • Daniel G. Rollins, 1881 – 1881
  • Benjamin K. Phelps, 1873 – 1880
  • Samuel B. Garvin, 1869 – 1872
  • Abraham Oakey Hall, 1862 – 1868
  • Nelson J. Waterbury, 1859 – 1861
  • Joseph Blunt , 1858 – 1859
  • Peter B. Sweeney, 1858 – 1858
  • Abraham Oakey Hall, 1855 – 1858
  • Lorenzo B. Shepard, 1854 – 1855
  • Nathaniel Bowditch Blunt, 1851 – 1854
  • James R. Whiting, 1838 – 1844
  • Ogden Hoffman, 1829 – 1835
  • Hugh Maxwell, 1821 – 1829
  • Pierre C. VanWyck, 1818 – 1821
  • Hugh Maxwell, 1817 – 1818

Notable Alumni

  • Supreme Court Justice Sonia M. Sotomayor
  • Former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
  • D.E.A. Administrator Anne Milgram
  • Former Governors Thomas E. Dewey, Charles S. Whitman, and Eliot Spitzer
  • Senior Judge Pierre N. Leval of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • Barbara Underwood, former NYS Attorney General
  • Eunice Hunton Carter, first Black woman New York prosecutor and U.S. women’s rights representative
  • NYU Law School Center on Civil Justice Director Peter Zimroth, former New York City Corporation Counsel
  • Roslynn R. Mauskopf, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
  • John Keenan, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York
  • Barbara S. Jones, Former United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York
  • Sterling Johnson, Dora Irizarry, and Ann Donnelly, United States District Judges for the Eastern District of New York
  • Ellen N. Biben, Administrative Judge of the Supreme Court, Criminal Term, New York County and former New York State Inspector General, as well as former Inspectors General and now Judges of the Court of Claims Dineen Riviezzo and Jill Konviser
  • Former Chief Judges Charles Breitel and Stanley Fuld of the New York Court of Appeals
  • Former United States Attorneys for the Southern District of New York Emory Buckner and George Z. Medalie
  • Former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Robert Capers
  • Ronald G. Goldstock, the first Director of the New York State Organized Crime Task Force
  • Lanny Breuer, former Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice
  • Herbert J. Stern, former United States Attorney and District Judge for the District of New Jersey
  • Robert E. O’Neill, former United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida
  • Justin Herdman, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio
  • Michael Dougherty, District Attorney of Boulder County, Colorado
  • Nicholas Scoppetta, former Commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services and former New York City Fire Commissioner
  • Archibald Murray, the first Black president of the New York State Bar Association and former Commissioner of the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services and Attorney-in-Chief and Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society
  • Numerous judges, lawyers in public service and private practice, academics, and many others.