Mario Cuomo, former New York governor and prominent figure in Democratic politics, is dead at 82

(Image credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Rodale)

last updated 8 January 2015

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo passed away at his home in Manhattan Thursday, just hours after his son Andrew was sworn is for his second term as the state's chief executive. He was 82 and had been suffering from poor health in recent months.

During his 12 years as governor — a tenure longer than any of his predecessors except for Nelson Rockefeller — Cuomo grew into a major star of the national Democratic Party. He openly toyed with running for president in both 1988 and 1992, but ultimately stayed on the sidelines for both campaigns.

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Mike Barry is the senior editor of audience development and outreach at TheWeek.com. He was previously a contributing editor at The Huffington Post. Prior to that, he was best known for interrupting a college chemistry class.