Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Spitzer got married to Silda Wall on 17th October 1987. The couple has three daughters: Elyssa, Sarabeth, and Jenna. Spitzer and his wife reportedly separated in 2013.

Eliot Laurence Spitzer was born on June 10, 1959 in the Bronx, New York as the son of Bernard Spitzer, a real estate mogul, and his wife Anne, who was a professor of English literature. Spitzer is the youngest of three children and he was raised in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

He studied at the Horace Mann School and later at the Princeton University from where he got his bachelor’s degree. Later he went to the Harvard Law School. During his time at Harvard, he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. It was also during this time that he met his future wife Silda Wall.

After Eliot Spitzer received his degree in law, he worked as a clerk for Judge Robert W Sweet of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. He later worked at the Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison law firm. He next joined the office of the Manhattan District Attorney Robert M Morgenthau. From 1986 to 1992, he spent his time fighting organized crime.

After leaving the District Attorney’s office in 1992, he went to work at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. From around 1994 to 1998, he worked at another law firm named Constantine and Partners.

At the age of 34, Eliot Spitzer decided to run as a Democrat in the 1994 election for Attorney General. He suggested that if elected, he would pursue corporate polluters. He received heavy funding from his own family, but still placed last among the four Democratic candidates for the nomination. Karen Burstein, who was the only woman and gay candidate, won with 31% of the vote.

Despite losing, Spitzer decided to run again for the post of Attorney General after four years. After defeating State Senator Catherine Abate, he was elected as the Attorney General of New York. He ran for a re-election in 2002, and had a remarkable victory once again after he defeated Republican Judge Dora Irizarry.

During his tenure, he took up several civil actions and criminal prosecutions relating to corporate white collar crime, internet fraud, securities fraud, and environmental protection. He also commissioned a study of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices. Because of his battles against corporate abuses, he was also endorsed as a possible candidate for vice president. However, his approach was described as ‘egregious and unacceptable’ by the president of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Spitzer was elected the Governor of New York in November 2006 after he successfully defeated Republican John Faso and Libertarian John Clifton. He won with 69 percent of the vote. Because of his eccentric ways, he was at odds with the powerful Republican leader of the state Senate. Though one of his key campaign pledges was to reform the state budget process, many were disappointed with what he actually achieved.