His father's race for lieutenant governor left a deep impression on Paterson, who later recalled how the Goldberg campaign shielded Basil from public view in the general election. "You wouldn't see his face in any campaign commercial, only his name," he told New York Magazine. "They had this view that upstate isn't ready for black people. They thought, 'Paterson is Catholic. People will just think he's Irish.'"

Paterson fought hard throughout his childhood to overcome his disability and earn the respect of his peers. He refused to learn Braille or use a cane or seeing-eye dog; he can read very slowly by using a powerful monocle,but now memorizes his speeches. He also developed a keen sense of humor and verbal timing that has proved extremely beneficial in politics.

After finishing high school in Hempstead, Paterson attended Columbia University and Hofstra Law School, where he earned a degree in 1983 though he never passed the bar exam. Paterson worked as a criminal associate in the Queens district attorney's office, but he was also gaining experience in Harlem politics. In 1985, he helped out on the mayoral campaign of David Dinkins (D) and then won election to his father's old state Senate seat after the death of the incumbent, Leon Bogues (D).

State Senate

At 31, Paterson became the youngest state senator in New York history. He developed friendships with lawmakers in both parties, but amassed a liberal voting record. During his time in the legislature, Paterson pushed for repeal of strict drug-sentencing laws and sponsored bills that would have granted voting rights to non-citizens and legalized the use of force against a police officer in resisting arrest.

In the 1990s, Paterson tried his hand at city politics, running unsuccessfully in 1993 for New York City public advocate, and making a failed Manhattan borough president bid in 1997. Paterson then turned his attention back to Albany, and in the fall of 2002, he mounted an aggressive backroom challenge to the state Senate Democratic leader, Martin Connor, who had been criticized for siding too often with the Republicans and for a lackluster effort at winning Democratic control of the chamber. The coup was successful, and Paterson became the first African- American to lead a party caucus in the state legislature.

As state Senate minority leader, Paterson had little institutional power, and he quickly set a goal of ousting the Republican leadership through incremental gains over the course of three election cycles. Democrats took three seats in the subsequent 2004 elections, and they were well on their way to achieving the majority when Paterson found an unexpected opportunity for a political promotion in 2006.

Lieutenant Governor

The offer to run for lieutenant governor shocked the Paterson family as much as anyone else. When Eliot Spitzer, the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, announced his selection of Paterson in January 2006, Basil Paterson had already endorsed another candidate, Leecia Eve, as had the rest of the Harlem "Gang of Four." It was also unclear whether the job, which has almost no formal responsibilities, would even be a step up from Paterson's current post as state Senate minority leader. But Paterson surely knew that the post would make him an immediate contender for an appointment to the U.S. Senate to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton if she won the presidency in 2008.

Paterson rode the Spitzer coattails to an easy victory in 2006, and once in office, he quietly pursued issues that he had championed in the state legislature, including expanded funding for stem-cell research, cracking down on domestic violence, and supporting minority and women-owned businesses. The new governor put Paterson in charge of shepherding a $2 billion stem-cell initiative through passage in Albany.

'Accidental Governor'

On March 10, 2008, Paterson was about to have lunch at his desk when an aide told him about the just-published report that federal investigators had caught Spitzer participating in a prostitution ring. He called his father. When Basil Paterson advised him to pray, the younger Paterson told him he had already prayed for the embattled Spitzer. The elder Paterson replied, "Well, actually, I meant that you need to say a prayer for yourself."

Within 48 hours, Spitzer had announced his resignation. Paterson asked the departing governor to delay the official transfer of power for a few days to allow for a smooth transition and so he could get up to speed on pressing state matters, particularly Spitzer's budget proposal, which he acknowledged he had not been involved in crafting. Like everyone else in New York politics, Paterson admitted to being floored by the revelation about Spitzer. "I kind of feel like the student who's getting ready for the final exam but they didn't attend any classes," he said in a radio interview.

As he had throughout his political career, Paterson deployed his trademark wit to ease the tension of the crisis. When during his first press conference as governor-in-waiting a reporter asked him if he had ever patronized a prostitute while holding public office, he replied: "Only the lobbyists." The room burst into laughter and applause.

Still, personal issues would prove a distraction during the first days of the Paterson gubernatorial administration, and they ultimately forced him not to run for reelection. In an effort to prevent a wider scandal, the new governor confirmed rumors that both he and his wife, Michelle Paige Paterson, had had affairs outside their marriage and had been separated for a time.

Paterson turned to a growing state budget crisis. A deficit was already forecast at $4.6 billion for 2009 and would soon grow significantly amid a deepening recession and the collapse of titans on Wall Street, which form a huge chunk of the state's annual tax base

Replacing Sen. Clinton

Paterson also suffered self-inflicted damage due to his handling of the U.S. Senate vacancy created by Hillary Rodham Clinton's appointment as President Obama's secretary of state. Speculation in New York centered on whether Paterson would choose Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the slain President John F. Kennedy who was making her first foray into elective politics by publicly declaring her interest in Clinton's seat. The governor and his staff sent mixed signals about Kennedy throughout the two-month deliberations, and Paterson drew criticism for dragging out his decision.

In the final chaotic day before Paterson announced his choice of Rep. Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kennedy said she was withdrawing from consideration, and a bitter war of words erupted between the Paterson and Kennedy camps. Aides to the governor trashed Kennedy in the press, claiming that her candidacy was derailed by vetting issues surrounding her personal finances and her marriage.Shouldering most of the blame for the episode, Paterson saw his approval ratings plummet and later acknowledged his role in the leaked claims about Kennedy.

Questions of Influence

Conditions worsened for Paterson very dramatically in the winter of 2010. In January, rumors began to circulate that the New York Times was reporting a career-ending "bombshell" story about governor. Paterson repeatedly denied there was anything to report.

Weeks passed with no story. But in February, the Times finally ran a series of stories that outlined Paterson's close relationship with an aide who assaulted three women. In the most brutal and recent incident, a woman told police that aide David Johnson "who is 6-foot-7, had choked her, stripped her of much of her clothing, smashed her against a mirrored dresser and taken two telephones from her to prevent her from calling for help," according to the Times. Even more damning was evidence that both Paterson and the State Police (who have no jurisdiction over the matter) reached out to the defendant allegedly to try to keep her from pressing charges.

The story caused an uproar in New York political circles - even former allies like Rep. Bill Perkins and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) urged the governor to quit his campaign. Paterson dropped out of the governor's race days after the piece first broke.

The story the departure of Paterson's top aide, Charles O'Byrne, who resigned in October 2008 after acknowledging that he had not paid taxes for five years, a disclosure that was worsened when he attributed his failure to pay to clinical depression. O'Byrne wielded enormous influence across the Paterson administration, and his resignation - along with resulting staff shakeups over the next several months - was described as a singular blow to Paterson because of how heavily the governor relied on him.

In an acknowledgement of the disarray caused by O'Byrne's departure, Paterson later asked him to return, although his new role would have been limited to advising the governor's reelection campaign.

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