Mario Cuomo, former New York governor, dies at 82

Three-term governor passed away on day his son was inaugurated for second term

Mario Cuomo in 2011 (Reuters)

Mario Cuomo, a three-term governor of New York who was once the hero of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, has died in New York. He passed away at the age of 82, just hours after his son, Andrew Cuomo, was inaugurated as governor for the second time.

The precise circumstance of the death of Mr Cuomo, who turned down a number of entreaties from party leaders to run for president, were not immediately clear. Reports said he had not been well enough to attend his son’s swearing-in ceremony in New York because of health issues.

“He couldn't be here physically today, but my father is in this room,” Andrew Cuomo said in his inaugural address on the the 64th floor of New York's One Word Trade Centre, also known as "Freedom Tower". “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.”

Mr Cuomo served as governor from 1983 through 1994, a period of no small turbulence. Reports said his ambitions for an activist government were thwarted by economic recession. He found himself struggling with the state legislature and was forced to cut programmes rather than expand them.

The son of Italian immigrants, Mr Cuomo was celebrated for his powerful, impassion oratory. In 1984, he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, a speech that served as a counter to President Ronald Reagan's stirring vision of America as a “Shining city on a hill”.

Speaking in San Francisco during a prime time address, he declared: “This nation is more a ‘Tale of Two Cities’.”

For years Mr Cuomo toyed with the idea of a White House run, first in 1988 and then in 1992. His pondering earned him the nickname, Hamlet on the Hudson. He decided not to enter the 1992 campaign at the last minute - and a plane that was to whisk the necessary paperwork to New Hampshire was left idling on an Albany runway, said the New York Daily News.

Mario Cuomo in 1994 (Reuters)

Mr Cuomo was born on June 15, 1932, in the Queens borough of New York city, the third child of immigrants from a small village near Naples. His parents owned a small grocery store during the Depression.

As a young boy, Mr Cuomo was a skilled athlete and excelled in in baseball and basketball. At the age of 19, he even signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates and pondered a career as a sportsman. Instead he became a lawyer, and then a politician. His run as governor came to an end in 1994 when he was beaten by his Republican challenger, George Pataki.

“In an era when liberal thought was increasingly discredited, Mr Cuomo, a man of large intellect and often unrestrained personality, celebrated it,” the New York Times said of the former governor. “[He challenged] Ronald Reagan at the height of his presidency with an expansive and affirmative view of government and a message of compassion.”

Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy posted a Twitter message offering his condolences to the current governor “and his family on the loss” of his father, adding: “His legacy endures and is felt today.”