Roy Cohn

Roy Marcus Cohn (/koʊn/ KOHN; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor. He first gained fame as a prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in their trials (1952–53) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954. Cohn had been assisting McCarthy's investigations of suspected communists. In the 1970s and during the 1980s, he became a prominent legal and political fixer in New York City. He represented and mentored Donald Trump during Trump's early business career.

Cohn was born in the Bronx in New York City and educated at Columbia University. He rose to prominence as a U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor at the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, where he successfully prosecuted the Rosenbergs, which led to their conviction and execution in 1953. After his time as prosecuting chief counsel during the McCarthy trials, his reputation deteriorated during the late 1950s to late 1970s as he settled in New York City and became a private lawyer to many clients, including real estate magnates, political operatives, Catholic clergy and organized crime.

In 1986, Cohn was disbarred by the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court for unethical conduct after attempting to defraud a dying client by forcing him to sign a will amendment leaving his fortune to Cohn. Cohn died five weeks later from AIDS-related complications, having vehemently denied that he was HIV-positive. Cohn has been the subject of many media portrayals before and since his death.

Born to an affluent Jewish family in the Bronx, New York City, Cohn was the only child of Dora (née Marcus) and Justice Albert C. Cohn; Cohn's father was an assistant district attorney of Bronx County at the time, and was later appointed as a judge of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. His maternal great-uncle was Joshua Lionel Cowen, the founder and long-time owner of the Lionel Corporation, a manufacturer of toy trains. A botched pediatric surgery to modify the appearance of his nose left Cohn with a prominent scar.

Cohn and his mother were close; they lived together until her death in 1967 and she was constantly attentive to his grades, appearance and relationships. When Cohn's father insisted that his son be sent to a summer camp, his mother rented a house near the camp and her presence cast a pall over his experience. In personal interactions, Cohn showed tenderness which was absent from his public persona, but he was vain and deeply insecure.

Cohn's maternal grandfather Joseph S. Marcus founded the Bank of United States in 1913. The bank failed in 1931 during the Great Depression, and its then-president Bernie Marcus, Cohn's uncle, was convicted of fraud. Bernie Marcus was imprisoned at Sing Sing, and the young Cohn frequently visited him there.

After attending Fieldston School and the Horace Mann School and completing studies at Columbia University in 1946, Cohn graduated from Columbia Law School at the age of 20.

After graduating from law school, Cohn worked as a clerk for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for two years. In May 1948, at age 21, he was old enough to be admitted to the New York bar. He became an assistant U.S. attorney later that month. That same year, Cohn also became a board member of the American Jewish League Against Communism.