Herbert Henry Lehman (March 28, 1878 December 5, 1963) was a Governor and Senator from New York.

Biographical

Lehman was born in New York City in 1878. A graduate of Williams College (Class of 1899), he helped found the investment bank Lehman Brothers with his brother, Arthur, in 1908. Lehman married Edith Louise Altschul in 1910.

Military and Foreign Affairs

He became a colonel in the U.S. Army during World War I. Lehman was the director of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation Operations for the State Department in 1943. He served as Director-General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration from 1943 to 1946.

Politics

Lehman became active in politics in 1920, and became chairman of the finance committee of the Democratic Party in 1928, as a reward for being a strong supporter of Alfred E. Smith. He became the lieutenant governor of New York in 1929, then served as the Governor of New York between 1933 and 1942, serving four terms. Afterwards, he was a Senator from New York from 1949 - 1957. Lehman filled most of the remainder of Robert F. Wagner's term after Wagner resigned following a special election in which he (HHL) beat John Foster Dulles (who had been appointed to temporarily fill the seat), before winning a full term of his own in 1950. He was not a candidate for renomination or reelection in 1956.

Other facts

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1963.

He was the first (and surprisingly, given the significant community in the state, still the only) Jewish Governor of New York. During much of his Senate career, he was the only Jew in the Senate as well.

• A ship on the Staten Island Ferry is dedicated to him.