Mario Cuomo Dead at 82

The 52nd Governor of New York, Mario Matthew Cuomo, died Thursday just hours after his son, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, delivered his inaugural address to start his second term.  Here is a complilation of some of the obituaries remembering the titan of the Democratic Party:  

NEW YORK TIMES: Adam Nagourney writes that no matter the problems Cuomo faced in Albany he burst beyond the state's boundaries to personify the liberal wing of the Democratic party.  

NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Chris Smith writes of Cuomo's heat and heart that he first experienced listening to the former governor yelling over the phone at political columnist Joe Klein when Smith was getting his start in journalism as an assistant to Klein. 

THE NEW YORKER: Ken Auletta writes that Mario Cuomo didn't "go all the way" in baseball or in politics but did go "all the way" as a public man, and he had an active interior life. 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Larry McShane and Ken Lovett write that Cuomo was a liberal who bucked the political winds by wielding his veto pen year after year to block the restoration of the state death penalty and who rose to national prominence through his oratory. 

NEW YORK POST: Latty Celona, Carl Capanile and Leonard Greene write about the career of the 52nd governor who was a dynamic statesman, a potential presidential candidate, and who was ultimately driven from office by an unknown upstart.  

POLITICO: Todd S. Purdum writes that Cuomo was the poet laureate of American liberalism and the Democratic party's most articulate critic of the trickle-down gospel of Reaganomics. 

BUZZFEED: Ben Smith writes that Mario Cuomo was forgotten in the 90's and 00's except to "a generation of New York liberals shaped by their loathing for Reagan" who "Cuomo represented the kind of humane, literate, reflective politics that they hadn’t found since" which is why his endorsement was the most sought after for those seeking to reach liberal voters in New York City. 

NEWSDAY: Michael Gormley and Paul Larocco write that Cuomo was a champion of the power of government and liberalism to advance society. 

CAPITAL NEW YORK: Terry Golway writes that long before "income inequality" became part of the political lexicon, Cuomo was keeper of the Democratic party's conscience. 

And here is the press release from Gov. Cuomo: 

The family of former Governor Mario M. Cuomo announced that the Governor passed away from natural causes due to heart failure this evening at home with his loving family at his side. 
He was 82 years of age.

The Fifty Second Governor of New York State, Governor Mario Cuomo served as New York’s Chief Executive from 1983 through 1994. He was credited with simultaneously improving the business environment of New York and the quality of life for its citizens, despite a national recession at the time.

Governor Cuomo presented eleven consecutive balanced budgets, reduced taxes, and implemented comprehensive governmental ethics and fiscal reforms. From the time Cuomo took office, New York experienced an increase of hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of businesses. 

Proclaiming the Decade of the Child, Mario Cuomo ushered in a multi-faceted effort to improve the lives of all New York’s children. His administration became the first in the country to develop an Energy Plan and to sign into law controls on acid rain among many undertakings.

Prior to his election as governor in 1983, Governor Cuomo served in the public and private practice of law for 18 years, simultaneously teaching as an adjunct professor for more than ten years at The St. John’s School of Law.

Mario Cuomo first gained public recognition for his resolution of the Forest Hills housing controversy in 1972. He was appointed to serve as the Secretary of State of New York in 1975 and in 1978 he was elected as Lieutenant Governor. He later received national attention for his 1984 Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco.

2014 marked 60 years of marriage to first lady Matilda Raffa Cuomo, a graduate of The St. John’s University Teacher’s College. The Governor is survived by his children, Margaret (Howard Maier), Andrew (Sandra Lee), Maria (Kenneth Cole), Madeline (Brian O'Donoghue), Christopher (Cristina Cuomo), as well as 14 grandchildren: Christina Cuomo Perpignano,
Marianna Cuomo Maier, Cara Kennedy Cuomo, Mariah Kennedy Cuomo, Michaela Kennedy Cuomo, Emily Cole, Amanda Cole, Katherine Cole, Samantha O'Donoghue, Kristin O'Donoghue, Tess O'Donoghue, Bella Cuomo, Mario Cuomo, and Carolina Regina Cuomo. 

Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly.