Potential 2016 GOP presidential hopeful George Pataki may be known for his time in public office, but his life isn’t all politics.
Here are eight facts about Pataki’s personal life:
1. Pataki comes from a blue-collar background. He is a second-generation American. His father was a postmaster and a farmer. Pataki’s ancestry is Hungarian, a fact he is proud of, boasting he can speak some Hungarian.
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2. Pataki earned his way through both Yale and Columbia on academic scholarships. He continues to support his alma mater today, attending Yale functions and football games. In 2002 Pataki was the graduating class speaker.
3. He married his wife Elizabeth “Libby” (Rowland) in 1973. Pataki is a father of four: Emily, Teddy, Allison, and Owen. His daughter, Allison, is also a Yale grad and is now a novelist. Teddy and Owen are serving in the military, while Emily is practicing law.
4. Pataki returned home to Peekskill, New York, to practice law after graduating from Columbia. He was only thrust into the spotlight when he took on the town’s mayoral race. Pataki felt obligated to run because he was dissatisfied with the administration.
5. While Pataki was serving as New York’s governor, he maintained a relationship with the late Gov. Mario Cuomo. Upon Cuomo’s passing on Jan. 1, 2015, Pataki praised Cuomo’s career in a television interview with "Capital Tonight"
and recalled their relationship,
according to State of Politics.
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“We would talk not that infrequently and it was always showing the appropriate degree Gov. Cuomo earned as a wonderful public servant for this state,” Pataki said. “There are just a small handful of people who have the privilege of leading this state for over a decade.”
6. Pataki may be a member of the GOP, but he considers himself an environmentalist. He used his positions in politics to pass green initiatives, including combatting the production of greenhouse gases and advocating for recycling programs.
“It’s something that I have been passionate about since I was a little kid,” Gov. Pataki, wearing faded jeans and a baseball cap instead of a pinstriped suit,
said in an 2006 interview with The New York Times while hiking through a newly declared "open space." The Times also referred to him as the “outdoorsy governor.”
7. When Pataki was elected governor of New York, he did not relocate his family to Albany. His daughter Allison, who was only 10 years old at the time of the election, told The New York Times her father wanted them to have a sense of normalcy in their lives.
“We were allowed to take interesting trips, but I had a really normal childhood. We had our own chores, and I worked every summer,”
she said in the Times interview.
8. The former governor still calls the house he raised his children in his home. The 24-room Victorian estate in Garrison, New York, was also the location of his daughter’s wedding in 2011.
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