Eliot Spitzer

Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was born in New York City, attended Princeton University, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard. He began his career as an attorney in private practice with New York law firms before becoming a prosecutor with the office of the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney. From 1999 to 2006, he was the Attorney General of New York, earning a reputation as the "Sheriff of Wall Street" for his efforts to curb corruption in the financial services industry. Spitzer was elected Governor of New York in 2006 by the largest margin of any candidate, but his tenure lasted less than two years after it was uncovered he patronized a prostitution ring. He resigned immediately following the scandal, and his lieutenant governor, David Paterson, served the rest of his term. Since leaving the governorship, Spitzer worked as a television host and an adjunct instructor at City College of New York, along with engaging in real estate activity and making private investments in a start-up company. He sought the office of New York City Comptroller in 2013, but he lost the Democratic nomination to Scott Stringer. Early life and education Eliot Laurence Spitzer was born in 1959 in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Anne (née Goldhaber), an English literature professor, and Bernard Spitzer, a real estate mogul. His paternal grandparents were Galician Jews, born in Tluste, Poland, now Ukraine. His maternal grandparents, born in the 1890s, were Jewish emigrants from Ottoman-era Palestine (now Israel). Spitzer is the youngest of three children. He was raised in the affluent Riverdale section of the Bronx. His family was not religious, and Spitzer did not have a bar mitzvah.