Eliot Spitzer Biography The less than squeaky clean Governor of New York, having been voted into the position on November 2006 eventually became known for his faux pas in considering giving driving licenses to illegal immigrants. Added to which his term in office was finally marred by his involvement in a prostitution ring in early 2008. Eliot Spitizer was born to Austrian Jewish parents on June 10th 1959 in an affluent area of The Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City. Spitzer attended Horace Mann School and with good grades and examination results found himself at Princeton University where he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Even in the early days while at university Eliot took an interest in politics when in he was elected chairman of the undergraduate student government, and graduated in 1981. Following his dream of becoming an attorney he went to Harvard Law School. It was while at Harvard that he met his wife Silda Wall whom he consequently married and went on to have three children with, Elyssa, Sarabeth, and Jenna. After receiving his Juris Doctor degree, Spitzer clerked for a judge in Manhattan, then joined a law firm where he stayed there for less than two years before leaving to join the Manhattan district attorney's office where he became chief of the labor-racketeering unit, spending six years pursuing organized crime. His biggest case came in 1992, when he led the investigation that ended the Gambino organized crime family's control of Manhattan's trucking and garment industries. Spitzer left the District Attorney's office in 1992 to work for another the law firm where he remained until 1994. Following that he worked from 1994 to 1998 he worked at a law firm on a number of consumer rights and antitrust cases. By 1994, Spitzer had made the decision to resign from working in private practice to concentrate on attaining the elected office of New York State Attorney General. Although he lost in the 1994 election he was successfully elected in the next election in 1998. In 1994 George Pataki was elected Governor of New York.
He has since become one of New York's most recognizable Democratic politicians. On November 7th, 2006 he was elected Governor of New York. By 1998 Spitzer was at the centre of a controversy involving a multi million dollar loan his father had given him when he ran for attorney general in 1998. During the investigation Eliot admitted not having been honest about the matter when he testified that he had mortgaged properties to raise the money but in fact it was his father who was paying off the mortgage loans, so effectively his father was financing his campaign. The move was seen as an effort to by pass the campaign-contribution limits in New York state law and then conceal their actions. No stranger to controversy, in April 2007, Spitzer proposed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in New York. State Senate Majority Leader announced his opposition to the proposal. This legislation passed in the State Assembly in June 2007, but died in the State Senate and was returned to the Assembly. Once again in September 2007, Spitzer issued yet another controversial executive order directing that state allow illegal aliens to be issued driver's licenses effective from December 2007. Spitzer also claimed that the policy would effectively allow illegal immigrants to buy auto insurance, which would reduce the number of uninsured drivers in the state and therefore decrease insurance premiums for all New Yorkers by an estimated $120 million. The proposal was instantly met with disapproval and affected the Governor’s approval ratings to a low of 33%, which had previously only stood at 44% in October of that year. A later poll showed that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg would defeat Spitzer were he to seek re-election. Two polls in December 2007 showed further erosion in Spitzer's public standing. Finally in early March 2008 Spitzer revealed to his aides that he had used a "high-class" prostitution service called Emperors Club VIP while in Washington, DC. Although early in his career as an attorney Spitzer had prosecuted two prostitution rings as former New York attorney general it appeared that he was maintaining a life of double standards. At a press conference on March 10th 2008, Spitzer apologized to his family and to the public. New York State Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco called for Spitzer's resignation after the Governor's press conference, at which Spitzer neither denied the prostitution allegation nor said anything about resigning.
With scandal being brought to the attention of the media duirng in the 2008 presidential elections it was initially thought that the repercussions on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would be detrimental. Let us know of updates to the Eliot Spitzer Biography at editor@yuddy.com ABB | 
