Basil A. Paterson

{{Short description|American politician and lawyer (1926–2014)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Basil A. Paterson | image = Basil Paterson (politician, New York).jpg | order = 58th | office = Secretary of State of New York | governor = Hugh Carey | term_start = January 1, 1979 | term_end = January 1, 1983 | predecessor = Mario Cuomo | successor = Gail S. Shaffer | office1 = Member of the New York State Senate | constituency1 = 31st district (1966)<br>27th district (1967–1970) | term_start1 = January 1, 1966 | term_end1 = December 31, 1970 | predecessor1 = Bernard G. Gordon | successor1 = Sidney A. von Luther | office2 = Deputy Mayor of New York City | term_start2 = March 1978 | term_end2 = January 1, 1979 | birth_name = Basil Alexander Paterson | birth_date = {{birth date|1926|4|27}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|4|16|1926|4|27}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = {{marriage|Portia Hairston|1953}} | children = 2, including David | education = St. John's University (BS, JD) | signature = | allegiance = {{flag|United States}} | branch = {{army|United States}} | battles = World War II | caption = Paterson in 1970 | 1blankname2 = Mayor | 1namedata2 = Ed Koch | preceded2 = Robert J. Milano | succeeded2 = Kenneth Lipper }}

'''Basil Alexander Paterson''' (April 27, 1926 – April 16, 2014) was an American labor lawyer and politician. He served in the New York State Senate from 1966 to 1971 and as the first African-American secretary of state of New York, serving under Governor Hugh Carey from 1979 to 1983. In 1970, Paterson was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York on the Arthur Goldberg ticket. Paterson's son David served as the state's first African-American governor from 2008 to 2011.<ref name='PhiladelphiaPassengerList-1919-09-09'>{{cite web |url=http://www.ancestry.com |title= Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1945 [database on-line] |publisher= The Generations Network |location= United States |date=September 9, 1919 |access-date=July 19, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080719120242/http://www.ancestry.com/| archive-date= July 19, 2008 | url-status= live}} </ref>

At his death in 2014, ''The New York Times'' described Paterson as "one of the old-guard Democratic leaders who for decades dominated politics in Harlem and influenced black political power in New York City and the state into the 21st century,"<ref name=":0" />

==Early life and education== Paterson was born in Harlem on April 27, 1926,<ref name="HistoryMakers-2007-01-18">{{Cite web|date=January 18, 2007|title=The Honorable Basil Paterson|url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-basil-paterson|access-date={{today}}|website=The History Makers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820050752/http://www.thehistorymakers.org:80/biography/honorable-basil-paterson |archive-date=August 20, 2018 }}</ref> the son of Leonard James and Evangeline Alicia (Rondon) Paterson.<ref name='WWAAA-1998-11thEd'>{{cite book | editor-last = Phelps | editor-first = Shirelle | title = Who's Who Among African Americans | publisher = Gale Research | year = 1998 | location = Detroit, Michigan, London | isbn = 0-7876-2469-1 | page = 1005| edition = 11th }}</ref> His father was born on the island of Carriacou in the Grenadines and arrived in New York City aboard the S.S. Vestris on May 16, 1917.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.caribseek.com/Barbados/Daily_Nation/article_63341.shtml |title=Paterson claims Caribbean roots |first=Tony |last=Best |date=March 16, 2008 |work=The Daily Nation |location=Barbados |access-date=March 20, 2008 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001336/http://news.caribseek.com/Barbados/Daily_Nation/article_63341.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.bb/index.pl/article?id=193759 |title= New NY Governor is son of Caribbean nationals |publisher= Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation |location= Barbados |access-date=March 20, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080315142750/http://www.cbc.bb/index.pl/article?id=193759  |archive-date = March 15, 2008}} </ref><ref name="WorldWarI-1917-06-05"> {{cite web |url=http://www.ancestry.com |title= World War I Draft Registration Card [database on-line] |publisher= The Generations Network |location= United States |date=June 5, 1917 |access-date=July 17, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080717085046/http://www.ancestry.com/| archive-date= July 17, 2008 | url-status= live}} </ref><ref name="NYPassengerList-1917-05-16">{{cite web |url=http://www.ancestry.com |title= New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line] |publisher= The Generations Network |location= United States |date=May 16, 1917 |access-date=July 17, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080717085046/http://www.ancestry.com/| archive-date= July 17, 2008 | url-status= live}} </ref> His mother was born in Kingston, Jamaica and arrived in Philadelphia on September 9, 1919, aboard the S.S. Vestnorge (with a final destination of New York City).<ref name="PhiladelphiaPassengerList-1919-09-09" /> A stenographer by profession,<ref name="PhiladelphiaPassengerList-1919-09-09" /> she once served as a secretary for Marcus Garvey.<ref name='HistoryMakers-2007-01-18'/>

In 1942, at the age of 16, Paterson graduated from De Witt Clinton High School in the Bronx. He was shaped by his early experiences with racism. "I got out of high school when I was 16," Paterson told ''The New York Times'' columnist Bob Herbert, "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."<ref name='NYT-2008-03-15-Herbert'> {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/opinion/15herbert.html |title=The Winds of Albany |first=Bob |last=Herbert |work=The New York Times |date=March 15, 2008 |access-date=March 20, 2008 }} </ref>

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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |date=April 17, 2014 |title=Basil A. Paterson, 87, a Power in Harlem With Statewide Reach, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/nyregion/basil-a-paterson-harlem-leader-and-father-of-a-governor-dies-at-87.html |access-date=June 12, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 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 fraternity—where he joined the ranks of the Omicron chapter of New York (now at Columbia University) in 1947. Paterson graduated with a B.S. degree in biology in 1948. He was later admitted to St. John's University Law School, where he received a Juris Doctor degree in 1951.<ref name="HistoryMakers-2007-01-18" /><ref name="MSEK-2008-04-19"> {{cite web |url=http://www.msek.com/profiles/profiles.php?profile_id=65 |title= Basil A. Paterson |publisher=Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. |location= United States |access-date=April 19, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080412121430/http://www.msek.com/profiles/profiles.php?profile_id=65| archive-date= April 12, 2008 | url-status= live}} </ref>

==Political career== ==='Harlem Clubhouse'=== Paterson became involved in Democratic politics in Harlem in the 1950s. He was elected head of the NAACP in 1964, which was widely recognized as the prelude to a political career. Along with former Mayor David Dinkins, Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, and Congressman Charles Rangel, he was a leader of the influential Gang of Four (also known as the "Harlem Clubhouse") in the 1960s. Their influence waned in the 1990s, as blacks left Harlem.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/12/27/2009-12-27_harlem_trailblazer_percy_sutton_dies_former_tuskegee_airman_and_manhattan_beep_w.html | location=New York | work=Daily News | title=Harlem 'trailblazer', former World War II Tuskegee Airmen Percy Sutton dies | first=Rich | last=Schapiro | date=December 27, 2009}}</ref>

===New York State Senate=== Paterson was elected to the New York State Senate in 1966 and represented the Upper West Side and Harlem in the 176th, 177th and 178th New York State Legislatures. While in office, he played a key role in preventing Columbia University from building a gym in Morningside Park.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}} In the Senate he supported special education, reform of the state's divorce laws and other progressive measures. He also was an early supporter of liberalized abortion laws despite his Catholic faith.<ref name=":0" />

=== Lieutenant governor campaign === [[File:New Democratic Coalition Convention, Hotel Diplomat, New York, New York. Feb 28, 1970 Slide 35.png|thumb|left|Paterson at the New Democratic Coalition Convention at the Hotel Diplomat in New York City, February 28, 1970]] In 1970, Paterson vacated his senate seat to run for Lieutenant Governor of New York alongside former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg. In the primary, Paterson received 100,000 more votes than his ticket mate, who ran a close race against Howard Samuels.{{Clarify|date=January 2022}} During the election, Albany machine boss Daniel P. O'Connell stated "He's the only white man on the ticket."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/nyregion/27paterson.html|title = Paterson & Son, Offices in Harlem and Albany|newspaper = The New York Times|date = December 27, 2006|last1 = Roberts|first1 = Sam}}</ref>

[[File:Arthur Goldberg and Basil A. Paterson, 1970 New York Democratic gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial nominees.jpg|thumb|right|Paterson (right) with Arthur Goldberg during their campaign, 1970]]

The Goldberg/Paterson ticket ultimately lost to Republican incumbents Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and Lt. Gov. Malcolm Wilson. Paterson was passed over for the 1974 governor's race even though he was the highest vote-getter in 1970. His son, David Paterson, would go on to become lieutenant governor in 2007.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://empirestateplaza.ny.gov/breaking-barriers/david-a-paterson | title=New York Leaders: Governor David A. Paterson }}</ref>

=== Appointments === In 1972, Paterson was the first elected African American Vice Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.<ref name="thehistorymakers.org">{{cite web | url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-basil-paterson | title=The Honorable Basil Paterson's Biography }}</ref>

In 1978, Paterson was appointed Deputy Mayor of New York City by Ed Koch. He stepped down from that post in 1979 to become Secretary of State of New York in Governor Hugh Carey's administration. Paterson was the first African-American to hold the post, and he served until 1983.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

As Koch prepared to seek a third term in 1985, Paterson explored a mayoral candidacy of his own but ultimately chose not to run.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/30/weekinreview/the-region-paterson-decidesto-keep-his-haton-his-head.html|title=Paterson Decides To Keep His Hat On His Head|first1=Carlyle C.|last1=Douglas|first2=Alan|last2=Finder|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 30, 1984}}</ref> He cited "pressing family problems" in declining to run for mayor.<ref name=":0" />

Mario Cuomo appointed Paterson to the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1989.<ref name="thehistorymakers.org"/> He served from 1989 to 1995. Andrew Cuomo appointed Paterson to the Board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://msek.com/news/basil-paterson-named-port-authority-commissioner|title=Basil Paterson Named Port Authority Commissioner|website=Meyer Suozzi}}</ref>

Paterson chaired the New York City Mayor's Judiciary Committee for four years and the New York State Governor's Judicial Screening Panel for the Second Department for eight years. He ended his tenure at the Commission on Judicial Nominations after serving for twelve years. Paterson was appointed by Mario Cuomo to the State Committee's and Michael Bloomberg to the city's Judiciary Committee.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/basil-alexander-paterson-21768/ |title=Basil Alexander Paterson |date=October 11, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://msek.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/Paterson_Basil_2016.pdf|access-date=April 22, 2023|website=cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com|title=Paterson, Basil 2016}}</ref>

== Involvement in son's political career == Paterson's son David was the 55th Governor of New York. Prior to his tenure as Governor, his son served in the state Senate from 1985 to 2006. David ran for the Senate at the behest of Percy Sutton, after the death of the incumbent, 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. 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/nyregion/17cnd-paterson.html|title=Paterson Is Sworn In as Governor|first=Nicholas|last=Confessore|website=New York Times|date=March 17, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=|title=Remarks by Governor David A. Paterson at his swearing-in ceremony 3/17/08|url=https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/newsfacts/fact080317.html|website=North County Public Radio|access-date=June 20, 2025}}</ref>

Paterson was ambivalent about David's political career due to his blindness. For years he kept his distance from David's political career to avoid conflicts of interest, especially after David became lieutenant governor in 2006.<ref name=":0" />

However, according to the ''New York Times'', over time he became David's "closest confidant after the new governor became entangled in controversies, including domestic abuse charges against a senior aide and perjury accusations in an ethics case involving Yankees tickets." The younger Paterson decided not to run for reelection in 2010, and watching the controversies unfold was difficult for his father to watch.<ref name=":0" />

== Personal life and death== Paterson was Catholic.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Langer|first=Emily|date=April 18, 2014|title=Basil A. Paterson, power broker in New York politics, dies at 87|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/basil-a-paterson-power-broker-in-new-york-politics-dies-at-87/2014/04/17/528e0cfe-c63b-11e3-8b9a-8e0977a24aeb_story.html|access-date=June 18, 2021|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> Outside of public service, he was a member of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. and co-chaired the firm's labor law practice.<ref name="MSEK-2008-04-19" />

He died at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan on April 16, 2014, at the age of 87. He was survived by his wife Portia Hairston, whom he married in 1953, by his sons David and Daniel, and five grandchildren.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Trailblazing NY pol Basil Paterson dies at 87 |url=https://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/basil-paterson-dead-trailblazing-ny-politician-and-former-gov-david-paterson-s-father-was-87-f65370 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811031410/https://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/basil-paterson-dead-trailblazing-ny-politician-and-former-gov-david-paterson-s-father-was-87-1.7733115 |archive-date=August 11, 2021 |access-date=June 12, 2025 |work=Newsday |url-status=live |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/nyregion/27paterson.html |title= Paterson & Son, Offices in Harlem and Albany |first=Sam |last=Roberts |work=The New York Times |date=December 27, 2006 |access-date=March 20, 2008 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090310091153/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/nyregion/27paterson.html| archive-date=March 10, 2009| url-status= live}}</ref>

==Further reading== *Paterson, David "''Black, Blind, & In Charge: A Story of Visionary Leadership and Overcoming Adversity''." New York, New York, 2020 *Dinkins, David, ''A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic'', PublicAffairs Books, 2013 *Rangel, Charles B.; Wynter, Leon (2007) ''And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress'' New York: St. Martin's Press. *Walker, John C.''The Harlem Fox: J. Raymond Jones at Tammany 1920:1970'', New York: State University New York Press, 1989. *Howell, Ron ''Boss of Black Brooklyn: The Life and Times of Bertram L. Baker'' Fordham University Press Bronx, New York 2018

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-ny-sen}} {{succession box | title = New York State Senate <br>31st District | before = Bernard G. Gordon | years = 1966 | after = Ivan Warner}} {{succession box | title = New York State Senate <br>27th District | before = Paul P. E. Bookson | years = 1967–1971 | after = Sidney A. von Luther}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Howard J. Samuels}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York|years=1970}} {{s-aft|rows=2|after=Mary Anne Krupsak}} {{s-bef|before=Donald S. Harrington}} {{s-ttl|title=Liberal nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York|years=1970}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title = Secretary of State of New York | before = Mario Cuomo | after = Gail Shaffer | years = 1979–1983}} {{s-end}}

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