The Contender: Andrew Cuomo, a Biography by Michael Shnayerson | eBook

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.

The New York Times Book Review - Jason Zengerle

…[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.

Publishers Weekly

03/30/2015
The hook of this biography from Shnayerson (Coal River)--that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is still a legitimate presidential prospect--may have been overtaken by events: the January 2015 arrest of Sheldon Silver reinforced the state's image as a cesspool of corruption, despite Cuomo's pledge to clean up Albany. The governor is certainly a fascinating figure, but even readers with a negative view of him are likely to have qualms about the author's persistent use of anonymous sources. Shnayerson, belatedly, explains that many of the people he spoke with were afraid of getting on Cuomo's bad side, but does not provide any basis to credit their accounts or indicate what efforts he took to corroborate them. This is a serious failing, as the author gives space to some significant innuendos, including speculation that Cuomo may have tipped off investigators to his predecessor's use of prostitutes, the scandal that led to Eliot Spitzer's resignation and set the stage for Cuomo's 2010 election. There's enough that's well-documented about Cuomo, both good and bad, to make resorting to unsubstantiated reports unnecessary, and this biography, intended to be definitive, is not. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

A Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Political Book of the Season"

[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

"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

"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

The Contender: Andrew Cuomo, a Biography

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