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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMario Cuomo, former New York governor, dead at 82
Ever-eloquent Mario Cuomo, a son of Queens who rode his rhetorical gifts to three terms as New York governor and tantalized Democrats by flirting with a run for President, died Thursday, two sources close to the family said. He was 82.
Cuomo passed away six hours after his oldest son, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was formally sworn-in to a second term in Manhattan. The elder Cuomo was too ill with a serious heart condition to attend.
"He couldn't be here physically today ... but my father is in this room," Andrew Cuomo said in his inaugural address.
"He's in the heart and mind of every person who is here. His inspiration and his legacy and his spirit is what has brought this day to this point."
As governor, Mario Cuomo wrestled with two recessions and presided over a massive expansion of the state prison system. A liberal, he bucked the political winds by wielding his veto pen year after year to block the restoration of the state death penalty.
http://m.nydailynews.com/news/politics/mario-cuomo-new-york-governor-dead-82-article-1.2063258
PCIntern
(25,556 posts)what a rhetorician he was
Edited to correct spelling...
MurrayDelph
(5,299 posts)sometimes the apple DOES fall far from the tree.
Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)Damn
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)He was a great governor...wish his son was more like him.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)tabbycat31
(6,336 posts)From when he was my governor, I liked him (I was a child then) and I liked how he stood up for what is right.
I like Andrew too and I think he's underrated as a governor. He's not perfect but he's very effective. I can see him jumping in 2016 if Hillary is out.
(I just read Andrew's book).
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)RIP
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)As a native New Yorker, I really liked Mario. He was such a statesman and an all-around honorable, good person. I am really upset to hear this. I had no idea he was even ill.
RIP Mario, they don't make them like you anymore.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)Living with his family in the back of a grocery store where his father got a job during the Depression. He knew what real life is like.