Basil Alexander Paterson (April 27, 1926 – April 16, 2014) was an American labor lawyer and politician. He served in the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 1966 to 1971 and as

secretary of state of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Robert J. Rodriguez, a Democrat. Duties The secret ...

under Governor

Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Part ...

from 1979 to 1983. In

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

, Paterson was the Democratic nominee for

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket wit ...

on the

Arthur Goldberg Arthur Joseph Goldberg (August 8, 1908January 19, 1990) was an American statesman and jurist who served as the 9th U.S. Secretary of Labor, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the 6th United States Ambassador t ...

ticket. Paterson's son

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

served as governor from 2008 to 2010.

Birth and early life

Paterson was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

on April 27, 1926, the son of Leonard James and Evangeline Alicia (Rondon) Paterson. His father was born on the island of

Carriacou Carriacou is an island of the Grenadine Islands. It is a dependency of Grenada, and is located in the south-eastern Caribbean Sea, northeast of the island Grenada and the north coast of South America. The name is derived from the Carib lan ...

in the

Grenadines The Grenadines is a chain of small islands that lie on a line between the larger islands of Saint Vincent and Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. Nine are inhabited and open to the public (or ten, if the offshore island of Young Island is counted) ...

and arrived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

aboard the S.S. Vestris on May 16, 1917. His mother was born in Kingston, Jamaica and arrived in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

on September 9, 1919, aboard the S.S. Vestnorge (with a final destination of New York City). A stenographer by profession, the former Miss Rondon once served as a secretary for

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...

. In 1942, at the age of 16, Paterson graduated from

De Witt Clinton High School , motto_translation = Without Work Nothing Is Accomplished , image = DeWitt Clinton High School front entrance IMG 7441 HLG.jpg , seal_image = File:Clinton News.JPG , seal_size = 124px , ...

in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

. He was shaped by his experiences with racism early on. "I got out of high school when I was 16," Paterson told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' columnist

Bob Herbert Robert Herbert (born March 7, 1945) is an American journalist and former op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times''. His column was syndicated to other newspapers around the country. Herbert frequently writes on poverty, the Iraq War, racism a ...

, "and the first real job I had was with a wholesale house in the old Port Authority building, down on 18th Street. We'd pack and load these trucks that went up and down in huge elevators. Every year there would be a Christmas party for the employees at some local hotel. Those of us who worked in the shipping department were black. We got paid not to go to the party."

Education

Paterson attended college at St. John's University, but his studies were interrupted by a two-year stint in the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After serving honorably, he returned to St. John's to complete his undergraduate studies. While there, he was active in social and community service organizations including the

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity—where he joined the ranks of the Omicron chapter of New York (now at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

) in 1947. Paterson graduated with a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

in 1948. He was later admitted to

St. John's University Law School St. John's University School of Law is a Roman Catholic law school in Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States, affiliated with St. John's University. The School of Law was founded in 1925, and confers Juris Doctor degrees and degrees for Mas ...

, where he received a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree in 1951.

Political career

Harlem Clubhouse

Paterson became involved in Democrat politics in Harlem in the 1950s. Along with former Mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enteri ...

, Manhattan Borough President

Percy Sutton Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was an American political and business leader. An activist in the Civil Rights Movement and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was ...

, and Congressman

Charles Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the ...

, he was a leader of the influential

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The ...

(also known as the "Harlem Clubhouse").

New York State Senate

Paterson was elected to the

in 1966 and represented the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

and

in the 176th, 177th and

178th New York State Legislature The 178th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 8, 1969, to April 20, 1970, during the eleventh and twelfth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. ...

s. While in office, he played a key role in preventing

from building a gym in Morningside Park.

Lieutenant Governor campaign

, Paterson vacated his senate seat to run for

alongside former U.S. Supreme Court Justice

. In the primary, Paterson received the most 100,000 more than votes than his ticket mate, who ran a close race against Howard Samuels. During the election, Albany machine boss Daniel P. O'Connell stated "He's the only white man on the ticket." The Goldberg/Paterson ticket ultimately lost to Republican incumbents Gov.

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

and Lt. Gov. Malcolm Wilson. Paterson was passed over for the 1974 Governor's race even though he was the highest vote-getter in

. His son,

David Paterson David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A ...

, would go on to become Lt. Governor in January 2007.

Appointments

In 1972, Paterson was the first elected African American Vice Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-basil-paterson In 1978, Paterson was appointed

Deputy Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...

. He stepped down from that post in 1979 to become

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Robert J. Rodriguez, a Democrat. Duties The secret ...

in Governor Hugh Carey's administration. Paterson was the first African-American to hold the post, and he served until 1983. As Koch prepared to seek a third term in 1985, Paterson explored a mayoral candidacy of his own but ultimately chose not to run.

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...

appointed Paterson to the board of the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

in 1989. Paterson served from 1989-95.

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

appointed Paterson to the Board of the

in 2013.

Personal life and family

Paterson was

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. Outside of public service, he was a member of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. and co-chaired the firm's labor law practice. Paterson was the father of 55th Governor of New York

. David, prior to his tenure as Governor, served in the state Senate from 1985 to 2006. David ran at the behest of

, after the death of Leon Bogues. David rose to the post of state senate minority leader from 2003 to 2006. He was subsequently elected lieutenant governor in 2006 on a ticket with Gov.

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 Pr ...

. David Paterson succeeded to the governor's office upon Spitzer's resignation on March 17, 2008. Basil was present at his son's swearing in and was recognized by his son during his speech.

Death and legacy

Paterson died on April 16, 2014, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, shortly before his 88th birthday. In 2020 David Paterson published a biography of his father titled '' Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Basil 1926 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American lawyers African-American Catholics African-American state legislators in New York (state) American labor lawyers American people of Carriacouan descent American politicians of Jamaican descent David Paterson DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Lawyers from New York City Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Politicians from New York City Secretaries of State of New York (state)