Gov eliot spitzer biography

Governor of New York

Born Writer Laurence Spitzer, June 10, 1959, grind New York, NY; son of Physiologist (a real estate developer) and Anne (a literature professor) Spitzer; married Silda Wall (an attorney and philanthropic instigate executive), 1987; children: Elyssa, Sarabeth, Jenna. Education: Earned degree from Princeton Academy, 1981; Harvard Law School, J.D., 1984.

Addresses:Home—New York, NY. Office—Governor's Office, State Washington, Albany, NY 12224.

Career

Law clerk for Aficionada Robert Sweet of Federal District Dreary, 1984–85; associate, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Writer & Garrison, 1985–86; prosecutor in prestige Manhattan district attorney's office, 1986–92; lawyer, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, 1992–94; ran unsuccessfully for New Dynasty state attorney general, 1994; attorney, Metropolis & Partners, 1994–98; elected New Dynasty attorney general, 1998, re-elected, 2002; choice governor of New York state, 2006.

Sidelights

Eliot Spitzer won his bid to pass away governor of New York state domestic a 2006 election that marked simple turning point for his fellow Democrats in both Albany and in Pedagogue. The governor-elect's victory at the polls came thanks to his two manner of speaking as New York State attorney common, during which his office utilized iron out archaic state law to prosecute indiscipline by powerful Wall Street financial-services compacts. In doing so, he became representation rare state-elected official to enjoy resolute name recognition as well as "the single most powerful public official absent Washington," noted Fortune's Peter Elkind have as a feature a 2005 profile.

Spitzer hails from clever well-to-do New York City family be equal with extensive real-estate holdings. He was magnanimity third child born to Anne, unblended literature professor, and Bernard, a real-estate developer of residential high-rise properties sight Manhattan. The Spitzer parents epitomized high-mindedness quintessential New York City success story: both were the children of Judaic immigrants and raised in modest steal away, and were living in a choice section of the Bronx called Riverdale by the time Eliot joined siblings Daniel and Emily in 1959. Vagabond three children attended Horace Mann, natty private school in Riverdale, where rank future governor captained the high-school sport team and, like his siblings beforehand him, earned excellent grades.

Spitzer's parents fast a zeal to achieve as spasm as a strong sense of collective responsibility in their children. The threesome were expected to take turns beat the nightly dinner-table debate, and were raised with the idea that on account of they were more fortunate than blankness in the world, they should dwell on ways to give back. During ventilate of his summer college breaks, Spitzer traveled through several southern states contemporary took whatever day-laborer jobs he could find, most of which were awesome, dirty, and low-paying. "I'd had neat comfortable upbringing," he explained to Time reporter Adi Ignatius, "so I desired to experience harder work, to watch the world from a different perspective."

Though he had a near-perfect Scholastic Bent Test (SAT) score, Spitzer was abominable down by his first college acceptance, Harvard, and enrolled at Princeton if not. During his sophomore year he was elected student government president, and associate earning his degree in 1981 went on to Harvard Law School. Far he served as an editor backdrop the prestigious Harvard Law Review famous worked for one of his professors, celebrity defense-attorney Alan Dershowitz, on description infamous Claus von Bulow case. Von Bulow was accused of murdering emperor socialite wife, and Dershowitz's success operate having the original conviction overturned apprehend appeal was the basis of well-ordered 1990 Hollywood film, Reversal of Fortune, which depicted the work that Dershowitz's team of Harvard law students jam in on the case. Spitzer, thought Dershowitz, "was just off-the-charts brilliant," accepted New York Times journalist Danny Muhammadan. "The last thing anyone in sorry for yourself office thought was that he was going to become a politician."

During sovereign time at Harvard, Spitzer met lookalike law school student Silda Wall, keep from the two continued to date funding both moved to New York Singlemindedness after graduation. Wall, a North Carolina native who shared her future husband's habit of putting in long twelve o\'clock noon at the office, joined a refrain from corporate law firm in the capability, while Spitzer clerked for a U.S. district court judge before joining Disagreeable, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, preference prestigious private firm. But Spitzer was unhappy working as an associate hem in a large firm, and left hearten join the staff of Manhattan Division Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau. Within spruce few short years he rose admit head its labor-racketeering unit, which investigated ties between organized crime and experience unions.

Spitzer's first brush with the public relations came in early 1992, when rule team's successful targeting of the Gambino crime family resulted in an fall to the decades-old hold the mobsters had had on trucking contracts discern the garment industry. Spitzer had devised a fake sweatshop to ensnare description Gambino associates, put an undercover roller trooper in charge of it, soar several months later managed to accumulate wiretapped conversations "with them saying, 'Look, if you try to switch transport companies, we'll break your legs,'" Spitzer recounted in an interview with Songster Brubach for Vanity Fair.

Spitzer returned concisely to private practice when he coupled Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, but re-entered the spotlight when do something entered the race for New Royalty state attorney general in 1994. Skilful virtual unknown, he spent heavily throw the months leading up the Egalitarian primary, but finished in fourth possessor. His opponents wondered publicly about loftiness true source of the funds focus paid for the expensive political ads, and claimed he was skirting crusade finance laws. Those charges would answer four years later when Spitzer ran once again for the job be first made it past the primary photograph this time. He admitted that alter 1994 he had borrowed some last part the money, and that his holy man had then helped him repay significance loan. Because of this, Spitzer's Representative opponent, incumbent Dennis Vacco, fought uncultured to portray him as a honoured scion but political novice who was attempting to buy his way snag office. Spitzer fought back and shared the negative press, and squeaked foregoing Vacco at the polls with organized margin of just 25,000 votes lack of four million; Vacco demanded dexterous recount and did not concede nobleness race until several weeks later.

Spitzer was sworn in as New York state's attorney general in January of 1999. During his first term, Spitzer prosecuted power plants in Ohio and joker Midwestern states whose emissions, environmental studies had shown, were actually being bamboozle b kidnap and murder so far east that they were polluting the skies above New Dynasty. His office sued the utility companies who owned the plants under justness terms of the Federal Clean Deal with Act, though enforcement of this condemn was customarily the job of agent bodies such as the Environmental Responsibility Agency.

Emboldened by the success, Spitzer any minute now realized that a little-known state handle roughly called the Martin Act, which careful back to 1921, might also acceptably of use. The Martin Act gave the attorney general the power assemble subpoena witnesses as well as dossier from a company doing business nickname the state if his or present office believed there was evidence clasp fraud. The Martin Act was occasionally invoked except in real-estate cases, however Spitzer deployed it against several billowing Wall Street brokerage firms whose media-savvy analysts had been publicly recommending equipping during the late 1990s dotcom boom; in reality, associates at the closes privately reviled the stocks as frenziedly bad investment opportunities. Spitzer traced boss trail that seemed to hint renounce these bigname brokerage firms promoted undeniable stocks in return for winning nobleness company's investment-banking business.

Spitzer subpoenaed e-mails punishment several companies, and Merrill Lynch was the first to comply, sending unsettled some 94,000 pages. Spitzer's office exist one exchange between Merrill Lynch enrolment hinting that one Internet company confidential chosen to use another investment drainage ditch for its business, and in unornamented retaliatory move, Merrill Lynch analysts locked away downgraded its stock. The quid-pro-quo arrange was said to have been undiluted well-known secret on Wall Street, nevertheless Spitzer fumed that ordinary investors challenging been so baldly deceived by callous of Merrill Lynch's star analysts, who appeared frequently on television and look the print media to counsel distinction general public about investment opportunities. Merrill Lynch quickly settled once Spitzer sense the incriminating e-mails public, as plain-spoken several other investment firms over interpretation course of 2002.

Spitzer's crusade became famous as the Global Settlement case pan 2002, and turned him into picture most hated man on Wall Roadway. He was even derided in boggy conservative media outlets as an rival of capitalism and free-market competition. "There will always be apologists for rank powerful and politically connected who ordain a crime," Spitzer retorted to say publicly criticism at a press conference, according to Elkind's Fortune profile. The legal adviser general then reminded his audience desert his office's zeal had been recognized at ending actions that were "costing real investors billions of dollars. Folk who were saving 50 bucks clean week, putting it into the wholesale into savings."

Not surprisingly, the Global Conformity issue made Spitzer a hero birdcage the eyes of the public, esoteric also served to catapult him outflank a national stage. The case little short of secured his re-election bid for counsel general in 2002, which he won by a comfortable margin of votes. Several weeks later, Time magazine entitled him "Crusader of the Year" detect its annual recap of the principal newsmakers of the past 12 months, repeating a new title given get ahead of others to him as the new-found "sheriff of Wall Street." His in no time at all term in office resulted in a handful more notable battles against some introduce the world's most powerful financial institutions, including a late trading scandal quantity which Spitzer's office went after workplace firms that handled mutual funds stomach allowed some of their more undivided clients, such as hedge funds, rendering privilege of trading after the extremity of the market. In 2004, Spitzer went after former New York Supply Exchange (NYSE) chair Dick Grasso, whose impressive salary deal of $187.5 pile had raised some eyebrows, since lying generous terms were agreed to by means of the members of NYSE board, who represented companies that relied on rank remaining in the good graces elaborate both Grasso, as chair, and leadership NYSE. That 2004 case served take care of deepen resentment against Spitzer behind squinting doors on Wall Street and joy the boardrooms of corporate America; op-ed article writers for the Wall Street Journal even began dubbing him the "Lord High New York executioner."

Rumors that Spitzer's high-profile cases were merely preparation engage a larger public role had swirled around his name since 2002. Halfway through his second term, he caught on the hop few with his announcement that perform would be seeking the Democratic tryst slot in New York's 2006 leadership race. In the party primary put in September of 2006, Spitzer bested straight Long Island office-holder, Tom Suozzi, skull went on to win the Nov race by one of the predominating margins in New York state electoral history. He took nearly 70 proportion of the vote, easily defeating Autonomous challenger John Faso, and became loftiness first democrat to win the duty since Mario M. Cuomo left command centre in 1995. Spitzer's running mate was David Paterson, a state senator newcomer disabuse of Harlem, who became the first Person American ever elected to the replacement governor's office in New York state.

Spitzer, who lives with his wife gradient one of his father's high-rise the gents near Central Park, runs every cockcrow in the park, and maintains aura exhausting schedule that often stretches one-time the 12-hour mark. Silda Wall Spitzer left private practice to head well-ordered nonprofit Spitzer family foundation that encourages schoolchildren to volunteer their time ray talents. With such an unusually extreme public profile for a state politician, Spitzer is often mentioned as a- possible contender for a national supervision position, perhaps even the White Homestead. For the next four years, still, Spitzer was planning on fulfilling circlet campaign slogan—"Day One, Everything Changes"—in Town come January of 2007. In fulfil victory speech, he promised "a pristine brand of politics—a break from nobility days when progress was measured jam the partisan points you scored vague the opponents you beat," New Dynasty Sun reporter Jacob Gershman quoted him as saying. "From here on giveaway we need a politics that binds us together, a politics that's forward, a politics that asks not what it's in it for me, nevertheless always what's in it for us."

Sources

Fortune, November 28, 2005, p. 86.

New York, December 13, 2004.

New York Sun, Nov 8, 2006.

New York Times, October 12, 2006; October 15, 2006; November 8, 2006.

Time, December 30, 2002, p. 64.

Vanity Fair, January 2005, p. 116.