The Contradictions of Mario Cuomo

Mario Cuomo was a larger than life Democrat. But in person he was accessible, down to earth and interested in the lives of others.

I met him twice. The second time was in 2006, when his son Andrew ran for state attorney general. As usual, he was affable and kind to me even though I was only a two-term assemblyman at the time.

Being larger than life and accessible was only one of the contradictions that defined Mario Cuomo.

A great liberal, he dealt with the reality of budget deficits and recalcitrant legislative leaders. He opposed the death penalty and expanded safety net programs for children and the poor, yet he also built the greatest number of prison beds in state history.

In the past few days, the remembrances of Mario Cuomo have demonstrated these contradictions as well. 

Many commentators have emphasized his soaring rhetoric in defense of liberal ideology. But the actual programs he authorized to improve the lives of poor and minority New Yorkers may be his true legacy. 

Bronx Rep. Jose E. Serrano, who served in the Assembly when Mario Cuomo was New York’s secretary of state, lieutenant governor and governor, told me that the man was an inspiration. “We can do better for those who have less,” is a phrase Serrano recalled Cuomo often saying when reflecting on his approach to government. That approach resulted in balanced education funding for communities previously given short shrift, Serrano said.

As a part of his Decade of the Child initiative, Gov. Cuomo created Child Health Plus (CHP) for uninsured, low-income children. As community relations manager at the time for The Bronx Health Plan (now rebranded as Affinity), I would promote CHP and Medicaid managed care enrollments.

Cuomo signed legislation sponsored by former Assemblyman Roberto Ramirez creating the Office of Minority Health to look at and deal with health care disparities in minority communities. Manny Rosa, the office’s first director, recalls that Cuomo tried “to make government relevant in everyday lives.”

Rosa credits the elder Cuomo for reaching out to minority communities, creating an office on women, pioneering domestic violence legislation, authorizing the EPIC prescription assistance program for seniors and examining sexual harassment in the state Legislature and government, and on SUNY campuses.

E.J. McMahon, head of the fiscally conservative Empire Center, reminds us that while Cuomo attacked President Ronald Reagan’s fiscal policies, he approved “personal income tax cuts that were downright Reaganesque.” In fact, the elder Cuomo’s first-term income tax cuts were permanent and larger than Andrew’s.

The contradictions, or complexities, played out most vividly in Cuomo’s missed opportunities to run for president. He once told Tim Russert, a former aide, that believing he was better than all the talented people available to run for president required “a little more self-confidence than I ever had.”

I was taken aback by his candor. Self-confidence bordering on arrogance is the usual hallmark of a politician, but not with him.

We should take Mario Cuomo at his word. If he never felt he measured up for the highest office in the land, who are we to dispute him?

“Dirty Harry” Callahan wasn't wrong when he said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” While Mario Cuomo knew his, he believed that the possibilities for ordinary citizens were limitless.

We should be grateful that he believed in us and wanted better for all New Yorkers.