David Paterson, First Legally Blind Governor of the Empire State

Today, March 17, 2008 was not your average Saint Patrick’s Day. David Paterson made history when he was sworn in as Governor of New York State. Paterson is only the second legally blind person to rise to the office of governor in American history. The first was Bob Cowley Riley, of Arkansas who was governor for eleven days back in 1975.

David Paterson, 53, was borne in Brooklyn. His father was the first non-white Secretary of State of New York and the first African American chairman of the national Democratic Party. David earned a bachelors Degree in History from Columbia University in 1977 and his law degree from Hofstra University in 1982.

He was elected to the New York State Senate in 1985 and became Minority Leader in 2002. In 2004, he became the first legally blind person to speak before the Democratic National Convention in Boston. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2006.

Paterson has a reputation for getting things done in a cordial manner. Joseph Bruno, the Republican leader of the New York Senate speaks of Paterson fondly. He seems to come across as the nice guy who gets the better of the other guy very politely. This valuable skill should help Paterson as he takes on the difficult job of governing one of our most influential states. Due to former governor Elliot Spitzer’s confrontational style and the manner in which Spitzer resigned, it is fair to say that Paterson has his work cut out for him.

Paterson is not your average blind guy. He became blind as a result of an infection when he was an infant. He is totally blind in the left eye and his visual acuity is 20/400 in the right eye. He can read large print for short periods of time. Paterson does not read Braille, is not a computer user and he does not use a white cane. He has a phenomenal memory which allows him to memorize speeches and keep track of the vast amounts of information required of elected officials.

His reputation and work history speaks loudly of his success. But he has not achieved this success via conventional means. Most successful blind persons use computers, Braille or both to master the written word. Given the stigma associated with blindness, it is understandable why a partially sighted person like Paterson eschews the use of Braille and the white cane. And, if he were fully sighted, no one would be wondering about how he gets his work done. Still, a part of me wishes that Paterson would use the cane. One Reuter’s piece on Paterson mentioned that he almost fell into a wishing well upon exiting a bus near his hotel. I think that a cane would have served him well in that instance.

Earlier today, David Paterson’s inaugural speech was interrupted regularly by exuberant applause. Let us all celebrate the achievements of one of our own, David Paterson, and, let us wish him well as he leads the Empire State into the future.

Information for this piece was taken from Reuters, CNN, The Huffington Post and the New York Times. For more information on David Paterson, try the following links:

Paterson sworn in as New York governor

New NY Governor Admits Affair

How a Blind Man Will Lead a State

Vision-impaired counting on N.Y. gov to open public’s eyes