Andrew Cuomo VS John Kerry

Andrew Mark Cuomo (; Italian: [ˈkwɔːmo]; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician, author and lawyer serving as the 56th and current governor of New York since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position his father, Mario Cuomo, held for three terms. He has served as Chair of the National Governors Association since August 2020. Born in Queens, New York City, Cuomo is a graduate of Fordham University and Albany Law School of Union University, New York. He began his career working as the campaign manager for his father, then as an assistant district attorney in New York City before entering private law practice. He founded Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP USA) and was appointed chair of the New York City Homeless Commission, a position he held from 1990 to 1993. Cuomo served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Community Planning and Development from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 2001, he served in President Bill Clinton's Cabinet as the 11th United States secretary of housing and urban development. In 2006, Cuomo was elected Attorney General of New York. Cuomo won the 2010 New York gubernatorial election to become Governor of New York and has been reelected twice after winning primaries against liberal challengers Zephyr Teachout (2014) and Cynthia Nixon (2018). During his governorship, Cuomo oversaw the passage of the 2011 Marriage Equality Act, introducing same-sex marriage in New York, and the 2014 Compassionate Care Act, legalizing medical marijuana. In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the 2012 Webster shooting, Cuomo signed the NY SAFE Act of 2013, the strictest gun control law in the United States. He co-founded the United States Climate Alliance, a group of states committed to fighting climate change by following the terms of the Paris Climate Accords. He also delivered Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act; a 2011 tax code that raised taxes for the wealthy and lowered taxes for the middle class; 12-week paid family leave along with a gradual increase of the state's minimum wage to $15; and pay equity. Cuomo received national attention for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York.

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John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. He previously served as the 68th United States Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017. An attorney and former naval officer, Kerry first drew public attention as a decorated Vietnam veteran turned anti-war activist. He went on to serve as a prosecutor and as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, before serving as United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1985 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in the 2004 election, which he lost to incumbent President George W. Bush. Kerry grew up as a military brat in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. before attending boarding school in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 1966, after graduating from Yale University, Kerry enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve, ultimately attaining the rank of lieutenant. From 1968 to 1969, during the Vietnam War, he served an abbreviated four-month tour of duty in South Vietnam. While serving as the commanding officer of a Swift boat, Kerry sustained three wounds in combat with the Viet Cong, earning three Purple Heart Medals. Kerry was awarded the Silver Star Medal and the Bronze Star Medal for valorous conduct in separate military engagements. After completing his active military service, Kerry returned to the United States and became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. He gained national recognition as an anti-war activist, serving as a spokesperson for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War organization. Kerry testified in the Fulbright Hearings before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he described the United States government's policy in Vietnam as the cause of war crimes. In 1972, Kerry entered electoral politics as a Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Massachusetts' 5th congressional district. Kerry won the Democratic nomination but was defeated in the general election by his Republican opponent. He subsequently worked as a radio talk show host in Lowell and as the executive director of an advocacy organization while attending the Boston College School of Law. After obtaining his juris doctor in 1976, Kerry served from 1977 to 1979 as the First Assistant District Attorney of Middlesex County, where he tried criminal cases and managed the district attorney's office. After a period in private legal practice, Kerry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1982. In 1984, Kerry was elected to the United States Senate. As a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, he led a series of hearings investigating narcotics trafficking in Latin America, which exposed aspects of the Iran–Contra affair. He was reelected to additional terms in 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008. Kerry won the Democratic party presidential nomination in 2004, alongside vice presidential nominee and North Carolina Senator John Edwards. Kerry campaigned as a critic of Republican President George W. Bush's prosecution of the Iraq War and advocated a liberal domestic policy. Kerry lost the Electoral College and the popular vote by narrow margins, winning 251 electors to Bush's 286 and 48.3% of the popular vote to Bush's 50.7%. Kerry remained in the Senate and chaired the Committee on Foreign Relations from 2009 to 2013. In January 2013, he was nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and was confirmed by his Senate colleagues on a vote of 94–3. As Secretary of State, Kerry initiated the 2013–2014 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks and negotiated landmark agreements restricting the nuclear program of Iran, including the 2013 Joint Plan of Action and the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. In 2015, Kerry signed the Paris Agreement on climate change on behalf of the United States. Kerry served as Secretary of State until the end of the Obama administration in January 2017, when he retired from government service. Kerry has remained active in public affairs as a vocal opponent of former President Donald Trump and as a supporter of President Joe Biden. On November 23, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced that Kerry will serve as the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate in the Biden administration.

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