The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York state counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, and Sullivan. Preet Bharara, who was appointed by Barack Obama in 2009 was the U.S. Attorney for the District until March 11, 2017, after being fired by President Donald Trump shortly after refusing to resign upon request. Bharara had taken over the post from Lev L. Dassin, who was acting as the interim U.S. Attorney after Michael J. Garcia, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2005, stepped down in December 2008 to join the partnership of New York law firm Kirkland & Ellis. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney.
The New York Times has called the office "one of New York City's most powerful clubs." Dozens of former assistant U.S. attorneys who worked there go on to prominent careers both in private practice and at the federal level.
Because of the office's resources, pursuit of high-profile cases, independence from presidential administrations and transitions, and tenacity, it is sometimes referred to as the "Sovereign District of New York"—sometimes along with its accompanying FBI field office.
The Office is organized into divisions handling civil and criminal matters. The Southern District of New York also has two offices: one in Manhattan, and one in White Plains. The Office employs approximately 220 Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
In 1814, the District of New York was divided into the Northern and the Southern District. The next year, the first U.S. Attorneys for the new districts were appointed.
Jonathan Fisk: 1815 - 1819
Robert L. Tillotson: 1819 - 1828
John Duer: 1828 - April 1829
James A. Hamilton: April 1829 - 1834
William M. Price: 1834 - December 10, 1838
Benjamin F. Butler: December 10, 1838 – 1841
Ogden Hoffman: 1841 - 1845
Benjamin F. Butler: 1845 - 1848
Charles McVean: Sept. - Dec. 1848
Lorenzo B. Shepard: Dec. 1848 or Jan. 1849 - April 1849
Jonathan Prescott Hall: April 1849 - 1853
Charles O'Conor: 1853 - 1854
John McKeon: 1854 - 1858
Theodore Sedgwick: 1858 - 1859
James I. Roosevelt: 1859 - 1861
E. Delafield Smith: April 1861 - April 1865
Daniel S. Dickinson: April 1865 - April 12, 1866
Samuel G. Courtney: April 1866 - April 25, 1869
Edwards Pierrepont: April 25, 1869 - July 20, 1870
Noah Davis: July 20, 1870 - December 31, 1872
George Bliss, Jr.: December 31, 1872 – January 24, 1877
Stewart L. Woodford: January 24, 1877 - March 12, 1883
Elihu Root: March 12, 1883 - July 6, 1885
William Dorsheimer: July 6, 1885 - March 1, 1886
Stephen A. Walker: March 1, 1886 - September 16, 1889
Edward J. Mitchell: September 16, 1889 - February 1, 1894
Henry C. Platt (Acting): February 1, 1894-July 23, 1894
Wallace Macfarlane: July 23, 1894 - January 1898
Henry Lawrence Burnett: January 1898 - January 1906
Henry L. Stimson: January 1906 - April 8, 1909
Henry A. Wise: April 8, 1909 - May 7, 1913
Hudson Snowden Marshall: May 7, 1913 – 1917
Francis Gordon Caffey: 1917 - June 1921
William Hayward: June 1921 - March 2, 1925
Emory Buckner: March 2, 1925 - April 6, 1927
Charles H. Tuttle: April 6, 1927 - September 29, 1930
Robert E. Manley (Acting): September 29, 1930 - January 1931
George Z. Medalie: January 1931 - November 21, 1933
Thomas E. Dewey (Acting): November 22, 1933 - December 26, 1933
Martin Conboy: December 26, 1933 - May 16, 1935
Francis William Holbrooke Adams (Acting): May 16, 1935 - November 20, 1935
Lamar Hardy: November 20, 1935 - March 1939
Gregory Francis Noonan: 1938? - 1939
John T. Cahill: March 1939 - March 1941
Mathias F. Correa (Acting): March 1941 - July 1941
Mathias F. Correa: July 1941 - June 10, 1943
Howard F. Corcoran (Acting): June 10, 1943 - August 2, 1943-
James B. M. McNally August 2, 1943 - October 9, 1944
John F. X. McGohey (Acting): October 9, 1944 - January 1945
John F. X. McGohey: January 1945 - October 1949
Irving Saypol (Acting): October 1949 - April 13, 1950
Irving Saypol: April 13, 1950 - September 18, 1951
Myles J. Lane: September 18, 1951 - April 1, 1953
J. Edward Lumbard: April 1, 1953 - July 11, 1955
Lloyd F. MacMahon (Interim): July 11, 1955 - September 1, 1955
Paul W. Williams: September 1, 1955 - July 9, 1958
Arthur H. Christy (Acting): July 9, 1958 – 1959
S. Hazard Gillespie, Jr.: 1959 - January 31, 1961
Morton S. Robson (Acting): January 31, 1961 - April 18, 1961
Robert M. Morgenthau: April 18, 1961 - 1962 (resigned to run for Governor in New York state election, 1962)
Vincent Lyons Broderick (Acting): 1962
Robert M. Morgenthau: 1962 - January 16, 1970 (re-appointed by President Kennedy)
Whitney North Seymour, Jr.: January 16, 1970 - June 4, 1973
Paul J. Curran: June 4, 1973 - October 31, 1975
Thomas J. Cahill (Interim): October 31, 1975 - March 1, 1976
Robert B. Fiske: March 1, 1976 – 1980
William M. Tendy (Acting): 1980
John S. Martin, Jr.: 1980 - June 3, 1983
Rudolph Giuliani: June 3, 1983 - January 1, 1989
Benito Romano (Interim): January 1, 1989 - October 16, 1989
Otto G. Obermaier : October 16, 1989 - June 1993
Mary Jo White: June 1993 - January 7, 2002
James B. Comey: January 7, 2002 - December 15, 2003
David N. Kelley (Interim): December 15, 2003 - September 2005
Michael J. Garcia: September 2005 - December 1, 2008
Lev L. Dassin (Acting): December 1, 2008 - August 13, 2009
Preet Bharara: August 13, 2009 – March 11, 2017
Joon H. Kim (Acting): March 11, 2017 -
Bob Arum - Boxing promoter
Neil Barofsky - Special Inspector General overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program
Bernard Bell - Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professor of Law and Herbert Hannoch Scholar at Rutgers School of Law–Newark
Thomas E. Dewey - Governor of New York (1943–1954) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948
Louis Freeh - former director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Patrick Fitzgerald - U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Illinois
Felix Frankfurter - Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Rudolph Giuliani - former Mayor of New York
John Marshall Harlan II - Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
Arthur L. Liman - criminal defense attorney
Michael Mukasey - former U.S. Attorney General
Thomas Francis Murphy - federal prosecutor and judge in New York City; prosecutor in the two perjury trials of Alger Hiss
Charles Rangel - U.S. Congressman (D-NY)
Henry Dwight Sedgwick - American lawyer and author
Franklin A. Thomas - former director, Ford Foundation
