Robert P. Patterson

Robert P. Patterson
55th United States Secretary of War
In office September 27, 1945 – July 18, 1947
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Henry L. Stimson
Succeeded by	Kenneth C. Royall
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office March 21, 1939 – July 30, 1940
Appointed by	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by	Martin Thomas Manton
Succeeded by	Jerome Frank
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office May 13, 1930 – March 22, 1939
Appointed by	Herbert Hoover
Preceded by	Thomas D. Thacher
Succeeded by	Simon H. Rifkind
Personal details
Born	Robert Porter Patterson (1891-02-12)February 12, 1891 Glens Falls, New York, U.S.
Died	Newark Liberty International Airport Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Margaret Tarleton Winchester Patterson (m. 1920 - 1952, his death)
Children	Robert P. Patterson, Jr. Aileen W. Patterson Susan Patterson Hand Virginia D. Patterson
Parents	Charles Robert Patterson Lodice Edna Porter Patterson
Alma mater	Union College Harvard Law School
Profession	Government
Religion	Presbyterian
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	World War I

Robert Porter Patterson, Sr. (February 12, 1891 – January 22, 1952) was the United States Under Secretary of War under President Franklin Roosevelt and the United States Secretary of War under President Harry S. Truman from September 27, 1945 to July 18, 1947.

Life and politics

Patterson was born in Glens Falls, New York on February 12, 1891, the son of Lodice Edna (née Porter) and Charles Robert Patterson. He graduated from Union College and Harvard Law School. On January 3, 1920, Patterson married the former Margaret Tarleton Winchester (March 12, 1897 - March 28, 1988); they had four children: Robert P. Patterson, Jr., Aileen W. Patterson, Susan H. Patterson and Virginia D. Patterson.

He practiced law in New York City. He served in the United States Army during World War I, reaching the rank of major, and received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in France. In February 2012, The World War I Memoirs of Robert P. Patterson: A Captain in the Great War, edited by J. Garry Clifford, was published by the University of Tennessee Press.

In 1930, President Herbert Hoover appointed Patterson as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt promoted Patterson to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where he sat with judges Learned Hand, Augustus Hand, and Thomas Walter Swan.

In 1940, after 15 months of service on the Second Circuit, Patterson left the bench to join the War Department. After a few months as Assistant Secretary of War, President Roosevelt promoted Patterson to Undersecretary of War late in 1940. He was instrumental in the mobilization of the armed forces preparatory to and during World War II.

Patterson congratulating Col. Chauncey M. Hooper in Hawaii, 1943.

President Harry S. Truman appointed Patterson as Secretary of War in 1945. Truman initially was set to offer Patterson a seat on the Supreme Court which was left vacant by Justice Owen J. Roberts, however, with the resignation of Henry L. Stimson, Patterson instead became the Secretary of War. Patterson advocated unifying the armed services (army and navy) and having a single chief of staff. Steps to this effect were begun by the National Security Act of 1947 and revised several times, finally by the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. Patterson participated in the desegregation of the armed forces, specifically during late stages of World War II with regard to creating an African-American fighter group, known now as the Tuskeegee airmen.

Patterson returned to his law practice in 1947. President Truman reportedly offered to reappoint Patterson to his former judgeship on the Second Circuit, but Patterson declined, opting to return to private practice. The firm, which continues as a preeminent law firm in New York City, still carries his name, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.

Patterson later served as the president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Patterson died on January 22, 1952, returning from meeting a client, onboard American Airlines Flight 6780 which crashed on the approach to Newark Liberty International Airport in Elizabeth, New Jersey; he was age 60. Patterson's son, Robert P. Patterson, Jr., was himself a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, until his death in 2015.

Arming the Nation for War: Mobilization, Supply, and the American War Effort in World War II was published in 2014 by the University of Tennessee Press, with a foreword by Robert M. Morgenthau, former Manhattan district attorney, and edited by Brian Waddell, associate professor at the University of Connecticut. Written shortly before Patterson left government service in 1947, the manuscript was recently discovered in family papers.

References

• Eiler, Keith. (1997) Mobilizing America: Robert P. Patterson and the War Effort, 1940-1945. Cornell University Press.

External links

• Robert P. Patterson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Political offices
Preceded by Thomas D. Thacher	Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York 1930–1939	Succeeded by Simon H. Rifkind
Preceded by Martin Thomas Manton	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 1939–1940	Succeeded by Jerome Frank
Preceded by Henry L. Stimson	U.S. Secretary of War Served under: Harry S. Truman 1945–1947	Succeeded by Kenneth C. Royall
Preceded by New office	United States Under Secretary of War 1940–1945	Succeeded by Kenneth C. Royall