Mario Cuomo, the former three-term New York Governor and a liberal icon, has died. He was 82 years old.
Cuomo died on Thursday at his Manhattan home from heart failure, his family confirmed. The news broke just hours after his son, Andrew Cuomo, was sworn in for a second term in the same office his father held from 1983 through 1994.
While Cuomo often clashed with the state legislature in Albany, he became a national icon for Democrats, who desperately hoped that he would run for president. However, he never did.
As The New York Times notes, Cuomo succeeded at a time when liberalism wasn’t popular nationally, but he stood up to President Ronald Reagan, most famously in his 1984 Democratic National Convention keynote address. That speech made him a national figure overnight.
Cuomo did run for a fourth term in 1994, but lost to Republican George Pataki.
"He is in the heart and mind of every person who is here,” Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday, notes NBC News. “He is here and he is here, and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought the state to this point. So let's give him a round of applause."
Cuomo was born on June 15, 1932 in Queens. His parents immigrated to the U.S. from Italy. He is survived by his wife, Matilda and his children: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Dr. Margaret Cuomo, Maria Cuomo Cole, Madeline Cuomo O’Donahue and CNN journalist Christopher Cuomo.
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFGoff.com