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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — He's being remembered for eloquent advocacy of the Democratic causes of his generation.
Three-term New York Gov. Mario Cuomo has died. Cuomo died of natural causes due to heart failure at his home today, the same day his son Andrew was inaugurated governor.
The son of Italian immigrants served as governor from 1983 through 1994 was also known for the presidential races he stayed out of in 1988 and 1992. Cuomo agonized so publicly over whether to run for the White House that he was dubbed "Hamlet on the Hudson."
In 1991, Cuomo left a plane idling on the tarmac at the Albany airport rather than fly to New Hampshire and jump into the battle for the presidential nomination at the last minute. He left the door open for a lesser-known governor, Bill Clinton of Arkansas.
Cuomo and his wife, Matilda, had three daughters and two sons. Beside Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his other son, Chris, is a CNN newscaster. Daughter Maria married designer Kenneth Cole.
Mario Cuomo was 82.
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