The Contender: Andrew Cuomo, a Biography

by Michael Shnayerson

Overview

A no-holds-barred biography of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Andrew Cuomo is the protagonist of an ongoing political saga that reads like a novel. In many ways, his rise, fall, and rise again is an iconic story: a young American politician of vaunting ambition, aiming for nothing less than the presidency. Building on his father's political success, a first run for governor in 2002 led to a stinging defeat, and a painful, public divorce from Kerry Kennedy, scion of another political dynasty, Cuomo had to come back from seeming political death and reinvent himself.

He did so, brilliantly, by becoming New York's attorney general, and compiling a record that focused on public corruption. In winning the governorship in 2010, he promised to clean up America's most corrupt legislature. He is blunt and combative, the antithesis of the glad-handing, blow-dried senator or governor who tries to please one and all. He's also proven he can make his legislature work, alternately charming and arm-twisting his colleagues with a talent for political strategy reminiscent of President Lyndon Johnson. Political pundits tend to agree that for Cuomo, a run for the White House is not a question of whether, but when.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455522002
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	03/31/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Michael Shnayerson is a long-time contributing editor to Vanity Fair and the author of eight books on a range of non-fiction subjects, from biographies of entertainer Harry Belafonte (My Song) and New York governor Andrew Cuomo (The Contender) to narrative-driven accounts of drug-resistant bacteria (The Killer Within) and mountaintop coal removal (Coal River). Shnayerson is married to Gayfryd Steinberg, and lives in Sag Harbor and Manhattan.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The High Point 1

Chapter 2 The Men in the Family 15

Chapter 3 From Andy to Andrew 33

Chapter 4 A Loyalty Like Heat 47

Chapter 5 The Enforcer 62

Chapter 6 A Cause to Embrace 74

Chapter 7 In Search of a Killing 86

Chapter 8 Cuomolot 101

Chapter 9 Waterloo in White Plains 116

Chapter 10 Mr. Cuomo Goes to Washington 129

Chapter 11 Rise to Power 143

Chapter 12 Mr. Secretary 154

Chapter 13 A Nemesis to Contend With 168

Chapter 14 A Last Chance for Change 181

Chapter 15 Running into the Ground 200

Chapter 16 Hitting Bottom 222

Chapter 17 Attorney General with a Vengeance 239

Chapter 18 Managing the Meltdown 253

Chapter 19 Man of the People 272

Chapter 20 Going for Governor 283

Chapter 21 A State in Need of Saving 296

Chapter 22 Like Midas 313

Chapter 23 Making Enemies 325

Chapter 24 The Great Allure of Gaming 346

Chapter 25 Guns and Butter 365

Chapter 26 Scandalmania 384

Chapter 27 Less Is Moreland 397

Chapter 28 Starting Again 421

Chapter 29 Full Circle 435

Notes 453

Acknowledgments 515

Index 517

Editorial Reviews

"In the first few pages of The Contender, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is portrayed as a "brilliant tactician" and a presidential hopeful, even if not in 2016. But the tone of the unauthorized biography quickly changes...the book explores Mr. Cuomo's complicated relationship with his father, Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, as well as his early days managing his father's campaigns, and then running his office in Albany after his father became governor..."—The New York Times

"[A] deeply researched account...While Shnayerson doesn't deny the governor his considerable talents and accomplishments - from his efforts as a young man tackling homelessness to his key role in the 2011 passage of same-sex marriage - the story is shadowed by what the author portrays as an often ruthless drive for advancement, and a mania for control."—Albany Times-Union

"Gov. Andrew Cuomo is known for going to great lengths to control his image and the information released about him. Interviews with people familiar with the governor's deliberations and others who worked on the three projects shed light on a literary chess game that played out over three years."—The Wall Street Journal

"Shnayerson is able to add color to the existing body of Cuomo portraiture...about how the governor (and governor's son) got to be the political figure he is today. Cuomo, in Shnayerson's telling, was the young campaign operative who shimmied up telephone poles in Queens in the dead of night to take down his father Mario's opponent's campaign posters, and would do just about anything if it meant winning."—Capitol New York

"A graceful writer with a gift for memorable descriptions...a dogged, resourceful reporter...with THE CONTENDER, Shnayerson provides a helpful [...] reminder that some of the best and most consequential political stories occur far away from the glare of Washington."—The New York Times Book Review

"Superb."—Daily Freeman

From the Publisher

…[Shnayerson] is a graceful writer with a gift for memorable descriptions…Ultimately, The Contender has a value that will endure beyond any particular presidential campaign season…the goings-on inside the halls of New York's jumbled old Capitol building…make for the most invigorating parts of The Contender. Shnayerson's account of Cuomo's efforts to win over a handful of Republican state senators to the cause of legalizing same-sex marriage is a Caro-esque case study in how to wield political and psychological pressure…With The Contender, Shnayerson provides a helpful…reminder that some of the best and most consequential political stories occur far away from the glare of Washington.

The New York Times Book Review - Jason Zengerle