Quotes made Famous by Governor David A. Paterson and some interesting Facts

Today...there are a lot of news reports that Governor Eliot Spitzer will step down soon or face impeachment from his republican foes, if that happens New York will have its First Black Governor in David A. Paterson who was born legally blind, he has side-stepped adversity all his life...so here is some great quotes that he has said over his life.

Lt. Governor David A. Paterson said...

• "I have had this desire my whole life to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn't think I could do..." {he told the New York Times after he was elected lieutenant governor.} "This is just another."
  
  


• We acknowledge that we can do better. {said at meeting on government reform in Albany}
  
  


• ...through the discovery of the African-American Burial Grounds, our history has at last come to the surface for all of us to know and respect. {in 1997, after working to secure federal funding for this project after the burial ground was discovered at the excavation site for construction of a new federal building in NYC.}
  
  


• You never get to any level of leadership where your race is not a factor. He continued, You don't want to be the first; you want to be the first of many. {when asked by the New York Amsterdam News about life lessons that he has learned}
  
  
• When I say I saw something, it’s more like I sensed it... {he said in a recent interview} I think people’s perception of me sometimes is that I see more than I actually do.
  
  
• My truest disability has been my ability to overcome my physical disability.
  
  
• As soon as people see that I can be independent, then they hold me to the standard that everyone else is...
  
  
• Internally, I probably felt myself more discriminated against as a disabled person, Mr. Paterson said in 2006. And when I would experience discrimination from another African-American I would go ballistic. I thought black people were supposed to understand.
  
  
• When I went to a couple of meetings, people said about me, ‘He’s not Basil, {his dad} Mr. Paterson said. I wasn’t trying to be Basil. I was trying to be better than the people who were running against me.
  
  

Here are a few interesting facts I found about Governor David A. Paterson and it is Paterson with (1) T.

Interesting Facts about Governor David A. Paterson...

• He is legally blind from a childhood illness that cost him his sight.
  
  


• He is the son of Basil Paterson who was the first black Deputy Mayor of NYC and a former New York Secretary of State and the Democratic Nominee for Lt. Governor in 1970.
  
  


• In 2004, became the first blind person to address the Democratic National Convention.
  
  


• If Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigns or is impeached, he will become the 4th Black person to run a State in US History.
  
  


• As a young child his family moved to Hempstead, N.Y, because his father Basil, was upset that the school system wouldn't let David attend classes with sighted students, where he went on to graduate High School in 3 years.
  
  


• David received his bachelor's degree in history from Columbia University in 77' and received his law degree from Hofstra in 1983... working several jobs in-between.
  
  


• In 1985, David was elected to the US Senate at the age of 31, and in 2002, became the first black elected to Democratic Leader of the NY State Senate.
  
  


• David lives in Harlem with is wife, Michelle, and they have 2 children, Ashley and Alex.
  
  


• David completed the New York Marathon in 1999 and is a board member of the board member of the Achilles Track Club which is an international track club for athletes with disabilities.
  
  


• Elected 74th Lt Governor of New York in November of 2006, on a ticket with Eliot Spitzer.
  
  


• As New York State Senate minority leader, David Paterson led the charge on several crucial issues for New York’s future, proposing legislation for a $1 billion voter-approved stem cell research initiative, demanding a statewide alternative energy strategy, insisting on strong action to fight against domestic violence, and serving as the primary champion for minority- and women-owned businesses in New York. As a result, Governor Spitzer asked Mr. Paterson to continue to lead New York State on these issues as lieutenant governor.
  
  


• As a avid sports fan of all the New York sports teams, he has been known to call into WFAN from time to time, one of the major sports talk sports radio stations in NYC.
  

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