Orin Allan Lehman (January 24, 1920 – February 22, 2008) was an American public servant who served as New York State’s longest-serving commissioner of New York State Office of Parks and Recreation.

Early life

Lehman was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on January 24, 1920, the son of Evelyn (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Schiffer) (1893–1970) and Allan Lehman (1885–1952). He was the great-grandson of Mayer Lehman and great-nephew of

Herbert H. Lehman Herbert Henry Lehman (March 28, 1878 – December 5, 1963) was an American Democratic Party politician from New York. He served from 1933 until 1942 as the 45th governor of New York and represented New York State in the U.S. Senate from 1949 ...

, former New York governor and United States senator. In 1942, he graduated with a B.A. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. In 1956, he earned a M.A. in American history from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

and in 1961, he earned a Ph.D. in American history from New York University.

Career

After college, he served as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and was seriously injured during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

; he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. After the war, he helped to establish (along with

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

and

Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in W ...

) to start Just One Break, a charity dedicated to helping disabled people find employment. In 1947, Lehman worked as an associate for the family firm,

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, ...

Political career

In 1950, President Harry S. Truman appointed him to the advisory board of the Economic Cooperation Administration which administered aid to Europe under the

Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

and then served as United States delegate to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. In 1965, he unsuccessfully ran for New York City comptroller in 1965 and in 1966, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress. In 1973, he was a member of the New York City Board of Corrections. In 1975, Governor

Hugh L. Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Part ...

appointed him as commissioner of New York State Office of Parks and Recreation succeeding

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...

where he served until 1993.

Personal life

Lehman was married twice. His first marriage was on July 24, 1962 to Jane Bagley, a Carnegie-Mellon Institute graduate who was a granddaughter of R. J. Reynolds. They divorced and Jane remarried to yachtsman S. A. Long before her death in 1988. Before their divorce, they were the parents of one daughter: * Susan Lehman Carmichael (born 1965), who married Trent Carmichael in 1992. In 1970, he married for the second time to Wendy Maria Vanderbilt (1939–2016), daughter of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr. Before their divorce in 1995, they were the parents of two daughters: * Brooke Lehman (born 1972) * Sage Lehman (born 1975), who married Christopher Ronis in 2009. He was in an eight year relationship with comedian

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

"until she caught him cheating, in 2001, and threw him out." In 1970, he tried his hand at producing the off-Broadway play '' The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' by Paul Zindel, which won the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

for best drama. Lehman died on February 22, 2008 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

at his home in

. His partner at the time was actress Monique Van Vooren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehman, Orin 1920 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Lehman Brothers Orin Allan New York University alumni Princeton University alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Orin Allan Lehman