Eliot Spitzer

New York Attorney General

Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer and former politician of the Democratic Party. He served as Governor of New York from January 2007 until his resignation on March 17, 2008 in the wake of the exposure of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring. Prior to being elected governor, Spitzer served as New York State Attorney General. Spitzer was born and raised in Riverdale, in The Bronx borough of New York City, to real estate tycoon Bernard Spitzer and Anne Spitzer, an English literature professor. He attended Princeton University for his undergraduate studies and Harvard University for law school. It was there that he met his future wife, Silda Wall. In the 1998 election, Spitzer defeated incumbent Republican Dennis Vacco by a slim margin to become New York State Attorney General. As attorney general, Spitzer prosecuted cases relating to corporate white collar crime, securities fraud, internet fraud and environmental protection. He most notably pursued cases against companies involved in computer chip price fixing, investment bank stock price inflation, predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders,fraud at American International Group, and the 2003 mutual fund scandal. In 2006, Spitzer was elected governor of New York after defeating Republican John Faso in the November election. During his time in office, he proposed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York and issued an executive order allowing undocumented immigrants to be issued driver's licenses, which have both attracted controversy. In July 2007, he was admonished for his administration's involvement in ordering the State Police to record the whereabouts of State Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno. On March 10, 2008, *The New York Times* reported that Spitzer was a client of a prostitution ring under investigation by the federal government. Two days later, he announced his resignation as governor of New York.