Former Gov. Mario Cuomo, 82, died from heart failure Thursday evening at his New York home, just hours after his, Andrew, was inaugurated to his second term in the same position. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ordered that flags on all New York state government buildings be flown at half staff in honor of his father, who served as governor for three terms, from 1983 to 1995.

Cuomo had been a key figure in the Democratic Party for years, an outspoken advocate of liberal policies. He was considered a clear front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination on two occasions during his terms as governor, but declined to run both times, citing a distaste for the political salesmanship necessary for a presidential bid.

When once asked how he wanted to be remembered, Cuomo replied that he wanted to be governor, the “hardest working there ever was.”  He said when it was over he wanted people to say, “now, there was an honest person.” He passed up the opportunity to be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993, choosing to run for his fourth term as governor, a bid he lost in 1994.

Cuomo had the rare ability to listen and introspect. His library was filled with books he had read and annotated. He could see all sides of an issue, an ability that allowed him to mediate the seemingly unsolvable Forest Hills housing divide, in which low-income housing was encroaching into an upper-middle-class neighborhood. In the process of resolving the issue he helped develop a citywide identity. His gubernatorial campaign platforms included balanced budgets, lower taxes, affirmative action and public education, and he strongly opposed the death penalty.

A powerful speaker, the keynote speech Cuomo made at the 1984 Democratic presidential convention, a blazing attack on then-President Ronald Reagan and a forceful defense of liberalism, vaulted him into the national political scene. Former speechwriter for President Obama, Jon Favreau, says Cuomo’s 1984 address is one of his all-time favorite speeches. After the speech, with the media clamoring to interview him, Cuomo quietly returned to Albany on a red-eye flight rather than basking in accolades.

The former governor was married to his wife, Matilda, for more than 60 years. They had five children. He was born in an apartment above his father’s New York City grocery store. He graduated from St. John’s University School of Law at the top of his class. Had he not decided on a career in politics he might have become a sports legend, having been scouted by the 1952 Pittsburgh Pirates in the minor leagues as “potentially the best prospect on the club.”

The death of the New York icon has touched people across a broad political spectrum. President Obama praised Cuomo as a “determined champion of progressive values,” with an “unflinching voice” for inclusiveness, tolerance, fairness, opportunity and dignity.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in a statement that today our country lost a giant, a strong eloquent leader who loved New York and its people. The Rev. Al Sharpton remembers him as “the last liberal giant of New York politics.”

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered flags in the city to remain at half staff for 30 days to honor Cuomo’s memory. In a statement de Blasio said that Cuomo was a man of unwavering principle with a compassion for humankind that was unequaled.

History is not likely to recall Cuomo as a great governor. He did not dazzle and his budgets were always late. He was not a political hand grabber, reticent and not easy to get close to, but, according to The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta, who knew the governor for decades, he was well-liked by those who succeeded in penetrating his exterior shell.