Mario Cuomo | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cuomo in 1987 | |
| 52nd Governor of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1983 – December 31, 1994 | |
| Lieutenant | Alfred DelBello Warren Anderson (acting) Stan Lundine |
| Preceded by | Hugh Carey |
| Succeeded by | George Pataki |
| Lieutenant Governor of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1979 – December 31, 1982 | |
| Governor | Hugh Carey |
| Preceded by | Mary Anne Krupsak |
| Succeeded by | Alfred DelBello |
| 57thSecretary of State of New York | |
| In office January 1, 1975 – December 31, 1978 | |
| Governor | Hugh Carey |
| Preceded by | John Ghezzi |
| Succeeded by | Basil Paterson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mario Matthew Cuomo (1932-06-15)June 15, 1932 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | January 1, 2015(2015-01-01) (aged 82) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | St. John Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal Party of New York |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 5, includingAndrew,Margaret, andChris |
| Relatives | Cuomo family |
| Education | St. John's University (BA,LLB) |
| Signature |  |
Mario Matthew Cuomo (/ˈkwoʊmoʊ/,Italian:[ˈmaːrjoˈkwɔːmo]; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52ndgovernor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994.[1] A member of theDemocratic Party, Cuomo previously served as thelieutenant governor of New York from 1979 to 1982 and thesecretary of state of New York from 1975 to 1978. He was the father of former New York governorAndrew Cuomo and broadcasterChris Cuomo.
Cuomo was known for hisliberal views and public speeches, particularlyhis keynote speech address at the1984 Democratic National Convention in which he sharply criticized the policies of theReagan administration, saying, "Mr. President, you ought to know that this nation is more a'Tale of Two Cities' than it is just a shining 'city on a hill.'"[2] He was widely considered a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president in both1988 and1992, but he ultimately declined to seek the nomination in both instances. His indecisiveness about entering the race led to his being dubbed "Hamlet on theHudson".[3][4]
Cuomo wasdefeated for a fourth term as governor byGeorge Pataki in theRepublican Revolution of 1994. He subsequently retired from politics and joined theNew York City law firm ofWillkie Farr & Gallagher.[5]
Cuomo was born in theBriarwood section of the New York City borough ofQueens to a family ofItalian origin. His grandfather Donato came to the US in 1896.[6] Mario Cuomo's father, Andrea Cuomo, was born in New York City in 1901 but in 1904, aged two or three, was taken back to a mountain village outsideSalerno,Campania, returning to the United States on his US passport more than two decades later.[6] Andrea Cuomo was fromNocera Inferiore, Campania, and his mother—Immacolata Giordano—was fromTramonti, Campania.[7] The family ran Kessler's Grocery Store inSouth Jamaica, Queens.[8] Mario Cuomo attendedNew York City P.S. 50 andSt. John's Preparatory School.
Cuomo was a baseball player and while attendingSt. John's University in 1952, he signed as anoutfielder with thePittsburgh Pirates for a $2,000bonus, which he used to help purchase his wifeMatilda's engagement ring.[9] Cuomo played for theBrunswick Pirates of theClass DGeorgia–Florida League where his teammates included future major leaguerFred Green;[10] Cuomo attained a .244batting average and played center field until he was struck in the back of the head by a pitch.[11] Batting helmets were not yet required equipment, and Cuomo's injury was severe enough that he was hospitalized for six days.[10]
After his recovery, Cuomo gave up baseball and returned to St. John's University, earning his bachelor's degreesumma cum laude in 1953.[12] Deciding on a legal career, Cuomo attendedSt. John's University School of Law and graduated tied for first in his class in 1956.[12] Cuomo clerked for JudgeAdrian P. Burke of theNew York Court of Appeals.[12] Despite having been a top student, the ethnic prejudice of the time led to his rejection by more than 50 law firms before he was hired by a small but established office inBrooklyn.[13][14]
During his tenure at the law firm of Comer, Weisbrod, Froeb and Charles, Cuomo representedFred Trump.[15] Cuomo eventually became a partner at the firm, but stepped down in 1974 to become New York Secretary of State.[16] In 1989, he settled a longstanding lawsuit against his former firm regarding $4 million in legal fees.[17] In addition to practicing law, Cuomo worked as an adjunct professor atSt. John's University School of Law.[18]
.jpg)
Cuomo first became widely known in New York City in the late 1960s when he represented "The Corona Fighting 69", a group of 69 home-owners from the Queens neighborhood ofCorona, who were threatened with displacement by the city's plan to build a new high school.[19] He later represented another Queens residents group, theKew Gardens–Forest Hills Committee on Urban Scale, who opposedSamuel J. LeFrak's housing proposal adjacent to Willow Lake in Queens. In 1972, Cuomo became known beyond New York City when MayorJohn Lindsay appointed him to conduct an inquiry and mediate a dispute over low-income public housing slated for the upper-middle-class neighborhood of Forest Hills.[4] Cuomo described his experience in that dispute in the bookForest Hills Diary, and the story was retold by sociologistRichard Sennett inThe Fall of Public Man.
In 1974, Cuomo ran in the primary forlieutenant governor of New York on aslate headed by gubernatorial candidateHoward J. Samuels, and both won the nomination of the Democratic State Committee at the party convention. But their entire ticket, including the nominees forattorney general andU.S. senator was defeated in the Democraticprimary election: Samuels by Rep.Hugh Carey of Brooklyn, and Cuomo by state senatorMary Anne Krupsak.
Governor-elect Carey chose to bring Cuomo into his new administration, naming him in December as his choice forSecretary of State of New York.[20] Cuomo served until December 1978, and was succeeded as Secretary of State byBasil Paterson.[citation needed]
Two years later, Cuomo ran forMayor of New York City at Carey's urging.[4] Incumbent MayorAbraham Beame was very unpopular and Cuomo was one of five major challengers to Beame in the Democratic primary. In a close and highly fractured election, U.S. RepresentativeEd Koch finished first with 19.81% of the vote and Cuomo came second with 18.74%. As no candidate cleared 40% of the vote, Koch and Cuomo advanced to a runoff. Koch emerged victorious with 54.94% of the vote to Cuomo's 45.06%. Cuomo had received the nomination of theLiberal Party several months previously and was urged to drop out of the race but he contested the general election against Koch and token Republican opposition.[4][21]
During the mayoral campaign, placards appeared saying: "Vote for Cuomo, not the homo" in reference to rumors about Koch's sexuality. Cuomo denied responsibility for this but Koch never forgave him "as he made clear with a pointedly disparaging reference to Mr. Cuomo in a recorded interview withThe New York Times that was not to be made public until Mr. Koch's death".[22] Cuomo ran on his opposition to the death penalty, which backfired among New Yorkers as crime was very high. Cuomo then went negative with ads that likened Koch to unpopular former mayorJohn Lindsay. Meanwhile, Koch backers accused Cuomo ofantisemitism and pelted Cuomo campaign cars with eggs.[23] Cuomo was also defeated by Koch in the general election,[23] taking 40.97% to Koch's 49.99%. The race is discussed in Jonathan Mahler's bookLadies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning.[23]
In 1978, incumbent lieutenant governor Krupsak declined to seek re-election. She withdrew from the ticket and unsuccessfully challenged Carey in the gubernatorial primary, accusing him of incompetence.[4] Cuomo won the primary for lieutenant governor and was elected alongside Carey inthe general election.
In1982, Carey declined to run for re-election and Cuomo declared his candidacy. He once again faced Ed Koch in the Democratic primary. This time, Koch's support for the death penalty backfired and he alienated many voters from outside New York City when, in an interview withPlayboy magazine, he described the lifestyle of both suburbia and upstate New York as "sterile" and lamented the thought of having to live in "the small town" ofAlbany as governor, saying it was "a city without a good Chinese restaurant".[4] Cuomo won the primary by ten points and faced Republican nominee businessmanLewis Lehrman in the general election. Withthe recession aiding Democratic candidates, Cuomo beat Lehrman 50.91% to 47.48%.
Cuomo actively campaigned forWalter Mondale in the1984 presidential election, and was named on Mondale's list ofvice presidential candidates.Geraldine Ferraro was ultimately nominated as his running mate, but Cuomo was chosen to give the keynote speech at the1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. He vigorously attackedRonald Reagan's record and policies in hisTale of Two Cities speech that brought him to national attention, most memorably saying: "There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit, in your shining city."[24][25] He was immediately considered one of the frontrunners for the Democratic nomination for president in1988 and1992.
Cuomo was re-elected in1986 against Republican nomineeAndrew P. O'Rourke by 64.3% to 31.77%. He ruled out the possibility of running in the 1988 presidential election, announcing on February 19, 1987, that he would not run, and then going on to publicly declinedraft movements in the wake ofGary Hart's withdrawal following theDonna Rice affair.[26]
In the1990 gubernatorial election, Cuomo was re-elected with 53.17% of the vote to RepublicanPierre Andrew Rinfret's 21.35% and ConservativeHerbert London's 20.40%.
When Cuomo was asked if he was planning to run for president in 1992, he said, "I have no plans and no plans to make plans," but he refused to rule it out. In October 1991, news broke that he was interested in running and was taking advice from consultantBob Shrum. At the same time, he began working on a budget with theNew York State Legislature, and promised not to make any announcements about a presidential run until he had reached an agreement with the Republican-controlledState Senate and the Democratic-controlledState Assembly. Two polls taken in November of theNew Hampshire Democratic primary showed him leading the field by at least twenty points, and a poll in December showed him trailing PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush 48% to 43%, having been behind by twenty-eight points two months earlier.[4]
The filing deadline for the New Hampshire primary was on December 20, 1991, and candidates were required to submit a ballot application in person. Cuomo was not able to negotiate a budget agreement with Republicans in the Legislature and on deadline day, time ran out. In a scene later fictionalized inJoe Klein'sPrimary Colors,[27] he kept an airplane idling on the tarmac as he pondered abandoning the budget talks in order to fly to New Hampshire and enter the race.[28] Democratic party leaders asked him to run and he prepared two statements, one in case he ran and one in case he did not. He tried to come to a final agreement over the budget, but as he could not, he made an announcement at 3:30 p.m. that day:
It is my responsibility as governor to deal with this extraordinarily severe problem. Were it not, I would travel to New Hampshire today and file my name as a candidate in this presidential primary. That was my hope and I prepared for it. But it seemed to me that I cannot turn my attention to New Hampshire while this threat hangs over the head of the New Yorkers I have sworn to put first.[4]
Cuomo's supporters launched a draft movement and encouraged people to write in his name in the Democratic primary, which was held on February 18, 1992. Cuomo did not discourage it, which many saw as implicit endorsement of the campaign.[29] Cuomo went on to receive 6,577 votes in the primary, 3.92% of the total cast and subsequently asked the draft committee to close down, saying, "I am flattered by their support and impressed by their commitment, but I am also convinced that in fairness to themselves they ought now to end their effort."[29] The group closed down, but Cuomo refused to rule out joining the primaries later in the year, stating, "I have said more than once that the nomination should go to someone willing and able to campaign for it. I am willing, but because New York's budget has not been settled I am not able to campaign for it."[29] Ultimately, Cuomo did not enter the race andBill Clinton went on to win the Democratic nomination and the general election. Because of Cuomo's refusal to run for national office, despite his popularity, he was referred to as the "Hamlet on the Hudson".[30]
After Bill Clinton won the Democratic nomination for president in 1992, Cuomo was a candidate for vice president but he refused to be considered and did not make Clinton's final shortlist.[31] He was also spoken of as a candidate for nomination to theUnited States Supreme Court, but when President Clinton was considering nominees during his first term to replace the retiringByron White, Cuomo stated he was not interested in the office.[32]George Stephanopoulos wrote in 1999 that Clinton came within 15 minutes of nominating Cuomo before the latter pre-emptively rejected the post.[33]
In1994, Cuomo ran for a fourth term. In this election, Republicans attacked him for the weak economic recovery within the state since the early 1990s recession and the resulting high unemployment as well as his opposition to the death penalty by highlighting the case ofArthur Shawcross, a multiple murderer convicted of manslaughter who was paroled by the state in 1987 and while on release became a serial killer. Republicans were able to associate Shawcross with Cuomo much likeWilliam Horton withMichael Dukakis six years earlier. Cuomo was defeated byGeorge Pataki in the1994 Republican landslide, taking 45.4% of the vote to Pataki's 48.8%. Cuomo lost mainly because his support outside of New York City all but vanished; he only carried one county outside the five boroughs,Albany County, while also failing to sweep the five boroughs unlike his previous three successful runs, losingStaten Island.
Cuomo and fellow DemocratAnn Richards, thegovernor of Texas who had been defeated in her re-election campaign byGeorge W. Bush, appeared in a series of humorousSuper Bowl XXIX television advertisements for the snack foodDoritos shortly afterwards, in which they discussed the "sweeping changes" occurring. The changes they were discussing turned out to be the new Doritos packaging.[34]
%2c_July_1986.jpg)
In Cuomo's first term as Governor of New York, he produced a balanced budget and earned the highest credit rating over the long term for the State in one decade.[12] His philosophy in leading the state was one of "progressive pragmatism".[12] Cuomo and the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives (Democrats had over a 3:2 margin in House) was successful in stopping U.S. President Ronald Reagan's administration from eliminating "federal income tax deductibility of state, local and property taxes".[12]
During his second term as governor, Cuomo successfully pushed for the enactment of sweeping fiscal reforms for the State.[12] Comprehensive reform measures were also enacted in governmental ethics for New York State under Cuomo's leadership.[12] Cuomo extended New York State's economic reach in business globally, contributing to both strengthening and developing it.[12][35]
Cuomo is also known for beginning the "Decade of the Child" initiative, an effort that included multiple health care and educational strategies to better the lives of children in New York State.[12] Further, in 1988, the "Rebuild NY" Transportation Bond Act was an initiative under Cuomo that was a continuance of efforts to rebuild bridges and roads throughout the State.[12] Cuomo increased assistance to local law enforcement agencies in order to help reduce or eliminate crime;[12] and prison expansion in the State was continued which he is said to have regretted.[12] Under Cuomo, New York State was also the first in the nation to enactseat belt laws.
Cuomo established theOffice of the MTA Inspector General (OIG) in 1983, as an independent watchdog for theMetropolitan Transportation Authority.[36] The OIG provides oversight and monitors the activities of the MTA.[37]
Governor Mario and his wife Matilda Cuomo presided over the First New York State Family Support Conference in 1988. His statewide initiatives in developing over 1,000family support programs are today termed "individual and family support" nationwide and are cited by the National Council on Disability. He was the first governor to support an ecological approach to families which was represented bycommunity integration and community development as the goal of deinstitutionalization.
Healthcare was also an area that Cuomo improved as governor, implementing initiatives that succeeded in reducing costs of prescription medications.[12] This endeavor assisted senior citizens in making the medications more affordable.[12] Under Cuomo's leadership, a public health plan that tackled the AIDS epidemic was the most intense in the nation.[12]
Overseeing programs for environmental preservation and conservation, Cuomo implemented aggressive initiatives in these areas.[12] Under Cuomo's leadership, New York State was the first in the United States to integrate both environmental protection and energy conservation goals.[12]
Cuomo's progressivism was also evident in his appointments of judges to theNew York Court of Appeals. Cuomo appointed all of the judges to the State Appeals Court, including the first two female judges, as well as both the first African-American and Hispanic judges.
Cuomo eliminated the New York State Regents Scholarship given to all students who ranked high on a statewide special examination.[38]
Maurizio Avola, a formerSicilian Mafioso believed to have killed about 80 people, including journalists, lawyers, politicians and mobsters, before becoming apentito, or informer, and serving life in prison, toldThe Guardian in 2016 that the Sicilian Mafia had planned to assassinate Governor Cuomo on a visit to Italy in November 1992. The plan was for about a dozen gunmen armed withKalashnikov assault rifles and explosives to ambush Cuomo. Avola'sgodfather, Aldo Ercolano, considered that Cuomo would be an "excellent target". Avola stated, "The aim was to target politicians or members of institutions in order to send out a clear message... Killing a prominent American was a warning to law enforcement agencies that had allowed several prominent mafia informants to live in the US under assumed identities." This was several months after the mafia had already assassinatedantimafia judgesGiovanni Falcone andPaolo Borsellino. The attack was to be carried out in the main square ofMessina, Sicily during the day. However, after Cuomo arrived inRome on November 19 with security consisting of many bodyguards and a bulletproof car, the attack was called off.[39]
Cuomo was notable for hisliberal political views, particularly his steadfast opposition to the death penalty,[40] an opinion that was unpopular in New York during the high-crime era of the 1980s and early 1990s.[40] While governor, he vetoed several bills that would have re-established capital punishment in New York State.[40] The death penalty was reinstated by Pataki the year after he defeated Cuomo in the 1994 election, although it was never put into effect and the statute was declared unconstitutional by theNew York Court of Appeals in 2004.[41]
Cuomo, aRoman Catholic, was personally opposed to abortion, but he waspro-choice on the issue, believing that the State does not have the right to ban the procedure. In a speech at theUniversity of Notre Dame on September 13, 1984, he used the statements of the American Catholic hierarchy to make an argument: "What is ideally desirable isn't always feasible, ... there can be different political approaches to abortion besides unyielding adherence to an absolute prohibition."[42] For this position, CardinalJohn Joseph O'Connor consideredexcommunicating him.[43][44]
Cuomo supporteduniversal health care, believing that the federal government should provide coverage to anyone who otherwise couldn't get it, as well as price caps on medical bills. Cuomo was convinced that poor, elderly and unemployed people would never receive quality health care without government intervention.[45]
Cuomo was also outspoken on what he perceived to be the unfair stereotyping of Italian Americans asmobsters by the media, including denying the existence of theMafia, and urging the media to stop using the word "mafia".[46]Joseph Pistone, anFBI agent widely known for hisundercover operation asDonnie Brasco, wrote disparagingly of Cuomo in his book,Unfinished Business.[46]
Cuomo opposed the move of theNational Football League'sNew York Giants andNew York Jets to theMeadowlands inEast Rutherford, New Jersey, choosing instead to attend the home games of theBuffalo Bills while serving as governor, referring to the Bills as "New York State's only team".[citation needed]
From 1995 until his death, Cuomo worked as counsel at the New York law firm,Willkie Farr & Gallagher.[35] In 1996, Cuomo joined the board of Medallion Financial Corp., a lender to purchasers of taxi medallions in leading cities across the U.S. He was named to the board through his personal and business relationship withAndrew M. Murstein, president of Medallion.[47][48][49] Cuomo also sat on the advisory council of theAbraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
From 1995 to 1996, Cuomo hosted a nationally syndicated talk radio show onWABC on weekends but ended the program in July 1996 to assist theDemocratic National Committee for the 1996 elections.[50]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Booknotes interview with Cuomo onWhy Lincoln Matters, July 25, 2004,C-SPAN |
Cuomo's first book,Forest Hills Diary: The Crisis of Low-income Housing, became an influential text in the fields of political science and housing policy, and it helped make his name with the public outside New York.
In 1996, Cuomo wroteReason to Believe. He also wrote a narrative essay titled "Achieving the American Dream" about his parents' struggles in coming to America and how they prospered. Cuomo was the author ofWhy Lincoln Matters, published in 2004, and he co-editedLincoln on Democracy, an anthology ofAbraham Lincoln's speeches.
Cuomo also wrote and delivered numerous speeches and remarks.
At its 1983 commencement ceremonies,Barnard College awarded Cuomo its highest honor, theBarnard Medal of Distinction. Also in 1983,Yeshiva University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
In 2017, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation officially naming theTappan Zee Bridge replacement the "Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge".[51] This has been met with significant opposition. A petition and several pieces of proposed legislation have sought to restore the bridge's name to that of itspredecessor.
Cuomo was married for 60 years toMatilda (née Raffa), from 1954 until his death in 2015. She is a graduate of St. John's University's Teachers College.[52] They had five children,Margaret,Andrew, Maria, Madeline, andChristopher. In 2017, Matilda was inducted into theNational Women's Hall of Fame.[53]
Cuomo's oldest son Andrew marriedKerry Kennedy, a daughter ofRobert F. andEthel Skakel Kennedy, on June 9, 1990. They had three daughters, twins Cara Ethel and Mariah Matilda Cuomo, born on January 11, 1995; and Michaela Andrea Cuomo, born on August 26, 1997. The couple divorced in 2005. Andrew served asSecretary of Housing and Urban Development under PresidentBill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. In his first attempt to succeed his father, he ran asDemocratic candidate for New York governor in 2002, but withdrew before theprimary. He withdrew after criticizing Republican incumbentGeorge Pataki's leadership following the terrorist attacks on the city onSeptember 11 the previous year. In November 2006, Andrew was electedNew York State Attorney General; and on November 2, 2010, he was elected Governor of New York, inaugurated on January 1, 2011, and was re-elected two more times, serving until he resigned in August 2021 due tosexual harassment allegations.[54]
Cuomo's younger son Chris was a journalist on theABC Networknews magazinePrimetime. He anchored news segments and served as co-host onGood Morning America, before moving to CNN in 2013, where he co-hosted the morning news magazineNew Day. He anchored his own prime time showCuomo Prime Time until he was suspended and ultimately fired in 2021 for assisting his brother Andrew in navigating a sexual harassment scandal which had previously led to Andrew's resignation as Governor of New York and after two accusations of sexual harassment against Chris were made.[55] He was picked as one ofPeople magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1997.[56]
Cuomo's daughter Maria is married to fashion designerKenneth Cole. She is Chair of the Board of HELP USA,[57] a charitable foundation that is also associated with the organization her mother founded, Mentoring USA.[52]
His daughter Margaret is "a board certified radiologist, teaching professional, and national advocate for the prevention of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes".[58] She is the author ofA World Without Cancer: The Making of a New World and the Real Promise of Prevention (2013),[58] and she serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit organization, LessCancer.[58] She has been featured on such TV shows asGood Morning America,Good Day New York,Morning Joe, andInside Edition.[58] In 2011, she was awarded the Commendation of the Order of the Star by the president and prime minister of Italy.[58][59]
Cuomo remained a baseball fan after his athletic career ended, reportedly limiting his television watching to baseball games andC-SPAN.[10] He was an avid player offantasy baseball, always with an Italian-American player on his team, regardless of how many Italian-American players were available or how well they were doing.[60] In 1994, he was featured several times on theKen BurnsPBS seriesBaseball, where he shared memories of his life in baseball before he entered politics.
Cuomo was the first guest on the long-runningCNN talk showLarry King Live that began in 1985 and ended in 2010.[61]
Neal Conan described Cuomo as both the most intelligent and wittiest politician he has ever interviewed.[62]
On November 30, 2014, it was announced that Cuomo had been hospitalized for a heart condition; he was described as being "in good spirits".[63]
On January 1, 2015, Andrew Cuomo was sworn in for his second term as governor. The elder Cuomo was not well enough to attend the inaugural ceremony, though his son remarked, "He is in the heart and mind of every person who is here. He is here and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought the state to this point."[64] That afternoon Mario Cuomo died from heart failure at his home in Manhattan at 5:15 p.m. EST, at the age of 82.[65]
Cuomo's wake was held on January 5, 2015, and his funeral was held atSaint Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan on a rainy January 6.[66] He is interred atSt. John Cemetery, inMiddle Village, Queens.
.jpg)
Various elected officials praised Cuomo following his death. PresidentBarack Obama stated: "An Italian Catholic kid from Queens, born to immigrant parents, Mario paired his faith in God and faith in America to live a life of public service – and we are all better for it. He rose to be chief executive of the state he loved, a determined champion of progressive values, and an unflinching voice for tolerance, inclusiveness, fairness, dignity, and opportunity. His own story taught him that as Americans, we are bound together as one people, and our country's success rests on the success of all of us, not just a fortunate few."[67]
Then-Vice PresidentJoe Biden described Cuomo as "a forceful voice for civil rights, for equal rights, for economic opportunity and justice. He had the courage to stand by his convictions, even when it was unpopular."[68] Former Governor of New YorkGeorge Pataki called Cuomo "a proud son of immigrants and a compassionate leader who possessed a soaring intellect".[69] Former Mayor of New York CityRudy Giuliani stated: "Mario was a giant political influence of his generation. His ability to make riveting political speeches was only exceeded by his ability to logically argue and defend his position."[69]
Cuomo andEd Koch are remembered as two New York politicians who dominated during the late 1970s and 1980s, as well for his public speaking ability.[70][71]
The rebuilt Tappan Zee Bridge was renamed theGovernor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in his honor. However, this would be controversial as the old bridge was named afterMalcolm Wilson.
His legacy also ran in his family, with the election of his sonAndrew Cuomo in 2010. Andrew Cuomo would serve as governor for ten years, from 2011 until his resignation in 2021.
"Campaign in poetry, govern in prose"New Republic, Washington, DC, 8 April 1985
There have, of course, been big names from New York whose names have been raised in presidential contests . . . Governor [Mario] Cuomo dashed the hopes of Democratic activists, salivating since his 1984 convention speech over the prospect of a presidential run by him, when he kept a New Hampshire-bound plane waiting on the tarmac . . .
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Secretary of State of New York 1975–1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of New York 1979–1982 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of New York 1983–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Liberal nominee forMayor of New York City 1977 | Succeeded by Mary Codd |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forLieutenant Governor of New York 1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of New York 1982,1986,1990,1994 | Succeeded by |
| Liberal Party nominee forGovernor of New York 1982,1986,1990,1994 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Keynote Speaker at theDemocratic National Convention 1984 | Succeeded by |
| Political activities |
| |
|---|---|---|
| Books |
| |
| Family |
| |
| |
| HUD Secretary | |
| Attorney General of New York | |
| Governor of New York | |
| Electoral history |
|
| Family |
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
