When a writer for Look Magazine asked American Jews in 1955 to name the “top five leaders of U.S. Jewry,” Herbert H. Lehman was the only person to appear on every list. Between 1928 and 1950, Lehman was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York twice, Governor of New York four times, and United States Senator twice. He also served as Director General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration during World War II, and he led the reform movement that overthrew Carmine DeSapio and the political bosses who had controlled New York’s Democratic Party for decades. Explore how Lehman’s Judaism influenced his personal beliefs and his political career as one of the leading liberal icons of the mid-twentieth century.

Duane Tananbaum, a professor at Lehman College published Herbert H. Lehman: A Political Biography (SUNY Press), the definitive biography of the man in 2016.

Doors open at 9:30 AM