Biography · Politics & Public Life
David Paterson
1954–
United States
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David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to December 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first legally blind person to be sworn in as governor of a U.S. state, and the first African-American governor of New York. Following his graduation from Hofstra Law School, Paterson worked in the District Attorney's office of Queens County, New York, and on the staff of Manhattan borough president David Dinkins.
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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-13
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