He graduated from Richmond Hill High School and attended Seth Low College of Columbia University from 1932 to 1934.

He also served as a member of the Temporary State Commission to Revise the Civil Service Laws from 1952 to 1954.

When Halpern's district was combined with that of Representative Lester Wolff he chose not to run for re-election in 1972.

[6][7] Born in a family of Republicans, the liberal Halpern refused suggestions to switch to the Democratic Party.

On January 26, 1971, alongside fellow Republicans F. Bradford Morse, Charles Adams Mosher and Ogden Reid, Halpern was one of seventy-four representatives in the House to support the House version of Ted Kennedy's Health Security Act, a bill that supported universal health coverage in America through a government-administered program.