Eliot Spitzer, the former New York State attorney-general who made his name rooting out misdeeds on Wall Street, yesterday took the oath of office as the state's 54th governor.
Mr. Spitzer, 47, was elected with a record 69 per cent of the vote. He promised in the campaign to be as vigorous pushing for changes in government as he was in prosecuting U.S. banks, mutual fund companies and insurers while attorney-general.
Mr. Spitzer made headlines by taking on white-collar corruption after the bull market of the late 1990s unravelled and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had a limited appetite for enforcement, giving him an opening to redefine his job and make himself a nationally known figure.
But as Governor, he must learn to work by consensus instead of by subpoena, and close watchers of the scene say Mr. Spitzer must act fast so as not to lose momentum.
In his first official actions yesterday, Mr. Spitzer signed executive orders setting stricter ethical guidelines for state employees.
He has said larger-than-expected tax collections from Wall Street's record profits and bonus payments last year won't solve the state's chronic problem with spending that exceeds revenue.
In the two weeks preceding his inauguration, ethics questions touched high levels of state government. State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno revealed the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into his private business activities. Comptroller Alan Hevesi resigned in a criminal plea bargain deal for using state workers as personal aides to his wife.
Andrew Cuomo, 49, a Democrat who took over yesterday as Attorney-General, will pick up Mr. Spitzer's unfinished prosecutions.
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Spitzer's hit list
While most state attorneys-general have focused on consumer-rights issues, Eliot Spitzer tackled white-collar crime, using his powers to press civil and criminal charges against Wall Street's alleged renegades. Mr. Spitzer invoked seldom-used state laws to attack abuses in industries whose primary regulators had seen no offences or overlooked them.
Banks
He exposed conflicts of interest at investment banks whose stock analysts ridiculed companies in private while publicly recommending them to help their banks win more corporate business. In 2003, 10 Wall Street firms agreed to a $1.4-billion (U.S.) settlement and a reorganization of their research departments.
Mutual fund companies
His prosecutions of mutual fund companies, accused of giving guaranteed profits to favoured clients by allowing them to trade improperly after the close of business, led to 21 settlements with $3.9-billion of customer restitution.
Insurance industry
Insurance companies and brokers have agreed to settlements exceeding $3-billion for bid rigging and accounting irregularities.
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"Eliot is a very tough act to follow."
JOHN MOSCOW, A FORMER MANHATTAN ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY
"Delay is the enemy of progress."
ELIOT SPITZER
