Impeached governor starred in Freeport-made film

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo has resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment and assault. A number of news sources have mentioned the only other governor to have met a similar fate.

In the fall of 1912, William Sulzer, a Democrat, was elected to New York’s highest office, endorsed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. Ten months later, Sulzer stood accused of having laundered funds that went toward supporting his campaign. He eventually admitted to “forgetting” to declare $9,000 — about $250,000 in today’s dollars — while declaring only $5,460.

Despite his claims of innocence, Sulzer’s finances were reviewed by a committee of the New York State Legislature. The committee was chaired by James Frawley, who was part of the Tammany political machine led by Charles Murphy. Sulzer himself had been aligned with Tammany, but in spring 1913 he departed from it and particularly opposed Murphy.

Sulzer’s trial before the legislature began on Sept. 18, 1913. Ultimately, the legislature voted on eight articles of impeachment, and the Court of Appeals decided that Sulzer was guilty of perjury and of filing a false campaign statement. On Oct. 17, 1913, Sulzer was removed from office, making him the first and, so far, only New York governor to be impeached.

Though his name is indelibly associated with his ouster, there was another side to Sulzer, besides the actions that led to his removal from office.

Clearly, there were reasons why he was elected governor in the first place. Among them were his support of progressive issues such as woman suffrage, direct election of U.S. senators, socially just legislation and fairer immigration laws. He particularly supported Eastern European immigrants, specifically Jews, despite not being Jewish himself. Sulzer was also notable for having passed the legislation that resulted in a light being installed in the torch on the Statue of Liberty.

Sulzer also supported unions. In fact, during his lengthy service in the U.S. House of Representatives, he signed legislation that created the U.S. Department of Labor, which is tasked with improving working conditions and negotiating equal pay for workers.

So, taking all this into account, was William Sulzer a corrupt tyrant or a man who was misunderstood based on an accounting error? In the end, Sulzer seemed to be a man who had good intentions when it came to policy making and governing his state, but who was undone by his own egregious mistakes.

--Kyle Berthoud and Reine Bethany