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 (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

on January 24, 1920, the son of Evelyn (

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

Schiffer) (1893–1970) and Allan Lehman (1885–1952). He was the great-grandson of Mayer Lehman and great-nephew of Herbert H. Lehman, former New York governor and United States senator. In 1942, he graduated with a B.A. from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

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

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and was seriously injured during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

; 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 longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

and Bernard Baruch) 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 Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

Political career

In 1950, President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

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 $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

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 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. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influentia ...

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 comedienne, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona that w ...

. 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 Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

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

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, at his home in

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

References

{{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