Funeral Service Held for Former NY Governor Mario Cuomo
Published at
Spencer Platt/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Mario Cuomo, the son of Italian immigrants who became a major political force in the Democratic Party as governor of New York, was eulogized Tuesday by his son as someone who “was at peace with who he was and how he saw the world.”
Cuomo, 82, died on New Year’s Day after a long illness. Among those attending the funeral service St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan were former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who delivered a 40-minute eulogy to his father.
In a speaking style reminiscent of his father’s love of words, the governor said, “Mario Cuomo was the keynote speaker for our better angels. He was there to make the case, to argue, to convince, and in that pursuit he could be a ferocious opponent or a powerful ally. And he was beautiful.”
It was during the 1984 Democratic National Convention as keynote speaker that Mario Cuomo soared to national prominence, describing the nation as one made up of a mosaic of immigrants as he also attacked what were perceived as the exclusionary policies of then-Republican President Ronald Reagan.
Cuomo was governor of New York from 1984 to 1995 and was often touted as a possible candidate for president but he never ran for national office.
Known as a liberal but preferring to be called a progressive, Cuomo opposed the death penalty and while as a staunch Roman Catholic he personally did not support abortion, he believed it was not up to the state to change laws allowing the procedure.
Follow @ABCNewsRadio
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.