Pataki was the Republican governor of New York from 1995 through 2006.

Pataki grew up on a vegetable farm in Peekskill. After attending Yale on an academic scholarship and then earning a law degree from Columbia in 1970, Pataki returned to his hometown and kicked off his political career in 1981 with a successful campaign for mayor. In 1985 he won election to the State Assembly, representing the 91st district; in 1992, he launched a successful bid for the State Senate. Just two years later, Pataki challenged incumbent Mario Cuomo for New York's governorship and stunned the Democrat in an upset. He was re-elected three times, but in 2006, Pataki declined to seek a fourth term. Political observers suggested that he was preparing a bid for president. He didn't bite, of course, instead joining up with law firm Chadbourne & Parke as counsel and later founding the consulting firm Pataki-Cahill with his former chief of staff John Cahill.

A bland, boring political leader—don't let the nickname "Whacky Pataki" fool ya—Pataki will be remembered for his relatively modest agenda as governor. He made a few tax cuts, reinstituted the death penalty as a purely symbolic gesture, authorized charter schools and, memorably, repeatedly failed to pass the state budget on time. Of course, the events of Sept. 11th and the rebuilding of Ground Zero also loom large in his official bio, and like Rudy Giuliani, Pataki has used the tragic events to boost his political cred. [Image via Getty]