Mario Cuomo: The Last Liberal Part 3 - Hard Times

You Decide with Errol Louis

In late 1991, some Democrats were hopeful that Mario Cuomo would finally agree to run for president. When he didn’t, President-elect Bill Clinton then wanted to appoint him to the Supreme Court. He cast aside these opportunities, and instead lost a bid for a fourth term as governor.

Why didn’t Cuomo run for president? Why didn’t he accept Clinton’s appointment? And how did he lose to a relatively unknown freshman state senator named George Pataki? Episode 3 of “Mario Cuomo: The Last Liberal” attempts to answer the questions that have captured the minds of many New Yorkers for decades, while examining Cuomo’s legacy and looking at his life after politics.