My Presidential Grandfather — Herbert Cohen — was born on July 2, 1900 — in York, Pennsylvania — first capital of the United States of America. Against all odds, he rapidly became the popular, respected, charismatic leader of Pennsylvania Politics.

There are over a thousand news articles covering his career. He was a leading Pennsylvania Democratic Politician from the early 1930s to the late 1950s, and then a PA Supreme Court Justice until his sudden death from a heart attack, in December 1970, in my childhood.


"In all the bright stories of legislators winning spurs and moving up there is none in this or recent sessions that better illustrates how grasp of problems and aggressiveness in meeting them sends a man from the rear row to the chief aisle seat than that of the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Six years ago Herbert B. Cohen sat in the rear rank of the the slim Democratic delegation in the lower branch of the Assembly. He had an ability as a speaker rouser and fight starter seldom seen even in that training place of lawmakers and legislative leaders. Now he is Chairman of the most powerful House Committee and spokesman for the Administration, the ruling group in the House, and himself."

To the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the York Daily Record and York Dispatch, to anyone telling the history of 20th Century York, Pennsylvania and National Politics, and Jewish-American History: Lying about history is unacceptable. Anti-Semitic distortions of American History are unacceptable. Commemorating George Leader while distorting and defaming my Grandfather and our family's legacy, positive impact and generous contributions to York and to America — unacceptable. Herbert Cohen was the widely acknowledged leader of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania for decades. As stated by journalists covering Pennsylvania Politics, Herbert Cohen was most responsible for turning Pennsylvania blue — not George Leader — his follower. My Grandfather was George's mentor. George was a follower of Herbert Cohen, as George himself said. Note to the Pennsylvania legal community: Along with George, his brother, Henry Leader — my Uncle Henry — was also a follower of my Grandfather's. During the 1950s, Henry worked for my Grandfather in the PA Department of Justice.

Every Democrat in power since Herbert Cohen's time — including past Governor Tom Wolf, current Governor Josh Shapiro, past Senator Bob Casey, and current Senator John Fetterman — benefited from Herbert Cohen's remarkable courage and leadership in transforming Pennsylvania's political landscape. He achieved this as a Jewish Man, not religious, but proudly Jewish, and proudly American. He achieved this without being wealthy — Herbert Cohen attended college on a Navy Scholarship — and he consistently rose above anti-Semitic, false, Jew-baiting attacks (motivated by crude envy) including from anti-Semitic Democrats.


Overcoming entrenched anti-Semitic bigotry, he rose up to become a visionary and respected political leader in Pennsylvania and a PA Supreme Court Justice. He was considered to be the leader of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the architect of the Democrats' return to power in PA. When he died, the Governor had the flag at the State Capitol flown at half mast.

In 1970, he died of a sudden heart attack in the middle of the night.

He had smoked heavily in early adulthood. Tobacco should be illegal.


In his 20s, Herbert Cohen became nationally renown as the public defender in the HEX Murder Trial. A liberal Democrat in conservative York County — who had the guts to not change his Jewish name — he was an unpretentious extrovert who was popular and loved.

At thirty-two Herbert Cohen was elected to the PA Legislature — where he was the Majority Floor Leader for multiple terms.

Mentor to George Leader, Herbert Cohen was Governor-elect Leader's first cabinet pick, becoming the Pennsylvania Attorney General in 1954. As PA Attorney General he hired Bud Rubin, my Father, as a Deputy Attorney General, on the recommendation of my Uncle, Donn Cohen (my mother's brother,) who was a close college friend of my Father's. My Uncle Donn earned his law degree at Harvard. My Dad, at Yale Law School. Herbert Cohen, Harry Jay Rubin, and Donn Cohen were a brilliant, brave and unstoppable team. I am fortunate that they all took part in nurturing me growing up.

My Dad was still in his 20s when my Grandfather hired him as a Deputy AG in the Pennsylvania Department of Justice. Capitol Hill veterans and the Harrisburg papers called my Dad "Boy Wonder."


Here is an excerpt from Henry Leader's eulogy:

"Herbert Cohen was not a man who valued sham or pretense. In fact, to the contrary, one of his favorites was to put down, prick the balloons of pretense and sham. He was a person of great personal courage. The things that he did to which Mr. Senft made reference were often done at considerable risk, financially as a lawyer, personally as a citizen....He wanted truly to run the Department of Justice better than it had ever been run before and in truth I believe he succeeded."



However, in recent years I rightly decided to place my family's contributions front and center, to honor their legacy. It is American History that should be shared.

Bad actors have done many evil, criminal things to erase my career, my ability to reproduce, and to diminish my family history as well. Their excuses are anti-Semitic. Their Neo-Nazi lies are often smears about Jews and money.

We were not wealthy. My accomplished Reform Jewish Family was middle-class. In fact — my immediate family avoided wealth and avoided conversations about money — due to anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews. Due to my parents' committment to civil rights and integrated education, my older sister and I attended the economically disadvantaged, crowded, and frequently violent York City Public School System during the 1960s and 1970s, during the York Race Riots — we were the only Jewish children in the entire York City School System. That is a far cry from the elite, safe private schools that Tom Wolf, Josh Shapiro, or Barack Obama attended. Being a Jewish child — the only one — in the rough York, PA City Schools, is a far cry from what most children experience growing up.

On the other hand — there are plenty of wealthy and ultra-wealthy non-Jewish public figures in politics, sports, entertainment, and the arts...

Whose careers clearly benefited from their families' wealth — the Kennedys and Bushes for example — but no one publicly assassinates them as spoiled princes and princesses, ends their careers, and snuffs out their families' legacies or their ability to produce children.


I never mentioned my family or their network to advance. Actually, I knew nothing about most of my Grandfather's history, until recently.

The intersection of envy and anti-Semitism toward my entire family — as well as misogyny toward me — has driven a decades-long RICO scheme against not only me, but also my parents and grandparents, against our real history, and against my ability to create the next generation.