it was his commitment to the state. it has nothing to do with my chances. it has everything to do with my job as governor and i don t see that i can do both therefore i will not pursue the presidency. he said it was that same commitment that led them to pass on a nomination to the supreme court, deciding instead to run for a fourth term as governor. but 12 years was enough for new york. he was defeated by george pataki in the republican revolution of 1994. cuomo returned to the private sector to restart his law practice host a radio show and become a prolific author and public speaker. and in 2010 came a brand new title, former or first governor cuomo, a word he would be forced to use because he was suddenly no longer the only one. in a bittersweet irony, his eldest son andrew, the current governor of new york was sworn in to a second term just hours before his father s death. he couldn t be here physically today, my father but
have to agree with mario cuomo. he said what was in his heart, in his soul and in his mind. and that was it. and that s why you, admired him so much. interestingly enough in the republican i was scared to death giving the keynote speech. so i called up mario and i said help. and give me some advice. so he gave me some advice. and then after that advice he said and you know the guy who did a lot of the work in that convention for me was my son, call him. so i called andrew. he gave me some more advice. they were both very helpful. he s in addition to everything else when he was your friend he was a good friend. nothing he couldn t do for you. governor that s a terrific story. governor tom kean former governor of new jersey thanks so much for being with us helping us remember former governor mario cuomo who passed away at the age of 82 the father of our good friend chris. so interesting to see the great stories. terrific memories to go around. wonderful. all right. we turn to
in the places that you don t visit. in your shining city. in fact mr. president, this is a nation mr. president, you ought to know that this nation is more a tale of two cities. than it is just a shining city on a hill. now governor kean you gave the republican keynote four years after this. so you know the kind of pressure and the spotlight that that was. you know it is interesting, after governor cuomo gave that speech a very famous speech taking ronald reagan on head-on. reagan went on to win 49 states it was almost as if he gave a great speech governor cuomo did, that america loved. but they didn t necessarily agree with the message. no and you didn t have to always he you didn t always
my father is in this room. he s in the heart and mind of every person who is here. he s here and he s here. and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought this state to this point. so let s give him a round of applause [ applause ] governor mario cuomo, a true american giant, was 82. he is survived by his wife of more than 60 years matilda, his five children including our cnn new day anchor chris and 14 grandchildren. the constants of his life always faith and family. a much younger chris cuomo in that family image right there. obviously our condolences go out to the entire family and our friend who loved his pop. i love though that he called his dad his pop. i had a chance to spend time with his dad and his mom and
beyond the showmanship to the reality, the hard substance ever things and we ll do it not so much with speeches that sound good as with speeches that are good and sound. reporter: it cemented him as his generation great orator the defender of the have notes and little guys. made him the choice of many democratic leaders to run for president. designee said would you think about it. i have. will you think about it any more? [ laughter ] reporter: he was considered a favorite for the department nomination in both 1988 and 1992. but in both cases, he demured. his seeming inability to decide on higher office frustrated democratic party faithful and became something of a punch line in itself. mario cuomo, no one knows what he s going to do. i don t know if you ve seen his new public servant commercial. he said a mind is a terrible thing on make up. reporter: he said it wasn t