NATION : Former Supreme Court Justice, U.N. Ambassador Goldberg Dies
Arthur J. Goldberg, former Supreme Court justice, labor secretary and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, died Thursday at the age of 81.
Goldberg’s body was discovered by his maid at his apartment here today, said a friend of the family. Henry Fleisher, a longtime friend of Goldberg, said the former justice was found lying on a sofa where he apparently had been reading a newspaper.
Fleisher said he thought Goldberg suffered a heart attack but there was no official confirmation.
Appointed to the Supreme Court on Aug. 29, 1962, by President John F. Kennedy, Goldberg reluctantly stepped down three years later at the urging of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who named him U.N. ambassador following the death of Adlai E. Stevenson at a time when U.S. involvement in Vietnam was escalating dramatically.
“I shall not, Mr. President, conceal the pain with which I leave the court after three years of service,” Goldberg told Johnson. “It has been the richest and most satisfying period of my career.”
By contrast, Goldberg’s tenure at the United Nations was frustrating. He resigned in April, 1968, separated from the center of power in the Administration and with the United States mired in the war in Southeast Asia.
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