American Crisis

by Andrew Cuomo

  Every example of dysfunction, corruption, or incompetence sets back the entire movement. It makes the conservatives’ argument.

  Every Democratic mistake fuels the conservative cause. Every failed program and over-budget construction project fuels the conservative agenda. Every unrealistic or unintelligent proposal fuels the conservative agenda. Democrats have already given conservatives too much ammunition. Failed government and unrealized proposals only feed public skepticism.

  Democrats who see government as merely a public relations position, or a pulpit for political pronouncements, or who are either unwilling or unable to actually get the job done have been a long-term liability for the progressive movement. If people want to be celebrities, they should go into show business. If people want to be advocates, they should join an advocacy organization. Progressives in government must be dedicated to achieving progress; otherwise they are really only bolstering the conservative cause. Too many progressives today fail to realize or focus on the fact that we must prove government can work to be successful and vindicate our cause. The burden of proof is on us. It is mastering the art form of effective government service. Some progressives now engaged in politics or government think they can just act the part. They can’t.

  When I was about eleven years old, a couple of my friends in the neighborhood said that they were forming a band and that I should come over and check them out. I went to see them in the neighbor’s garage and sure enough there was a drum set, guitars, and a microphone stand. The band then turned on a record player, picked up the instruments, and played along with the song. Except they didn’t really play. The record player was playing the music. The band was just lip-synching along and the guitars and drums were props. After this went on for a while, I said to my friend, “That’s great, but I think a band has to be able to make music without the record player.” He looked surprised and confused. I don’t know if they missed the point or believed they were going to work up to it, or were ahead of their time as the next Milli Vanilli. In either event, I didn’t care to join. That’s how I feel when I see some now engaged in the political arena. It’s not about holding an instrument or singing with the music. You have to know how to perform.

  I applaud elected officials who know how to play the instrument, accomplish the goal, and affirm government capacity. Look at Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta. She showed the nation brave, principled, competent leadership. She inspired. Likewise, I applaud Joe Biden. He is an honorable man who has dedicated his life to public service and constantly leads people to do better and be better. His career has produced positive change that builds public confidence.

  The political contest in this country between Democrats and Republicans or, more clearly, between progressives and conservatives comes down to a simple proposition: “Who do the American people believe?”

  People who call themselves progressives must be examples of why Americans should trust us. Their service must be honorable and productive. They must be willing and able to make the hard choices to effect change and deliver results. Not just to advocate, but to actually achieve. Not to talk, but to act. They must make things better. If they fail to do that for one reason or another, they set the progressive cause back and give Americans more of a reason to distrust us. An unanticipated result of the COVID pandemic is that it can be a transformational moment in politics. Not since the Great Depression has government been as relevant to domestic issues. Government has gone from an abstract concept to a practical day-to-day essential. It impacts everyone every day, for better or worse. The veil of political theory has been lifted and the reality of government capacity has been exposed. Government leaders have been scrutinized and the level of their competence has been revealed. People know who was up to the job and who wasn’t. They know who stepped up and who fell down. It is an opportunity for progressives because it establishes our main point: Government matters and leadership matters. Progressives cannot miss this opportunity to rise to the public’s expectations. Government must deliver; it is actions, not words. Leaders must lead, and they must respond to the crisis. In this moment, progressives can change politics for the next fifty years the way the ultimate progressive, FDR, changed the political trajectory after the Depression. The stakes are just too high to fail. That is my philosophy and that is the plain truth.

  JUNE 19 | 716 NEW CASES | 1,220 HOSPITALIZED | 25 DEATHS

  “We learned that our better angels are stronger than our demons and sometimes we just need to listen for them. Over the past 111 days, we heard them and it was beautiful. Let’s keep listening together.”

  I HAD BEEN DOING BRIEFINGS EVERY day for 110 days. We had been reopening for over one month, and the infection rate not only held constant but actually dropped. None of the experts had predicted that. We had accomplished the goal and actually achieved what all the experts told us was impossible. Remember where we were. All the models said we would need between 110,000 and 140,000 hospital beds on any given day at our apex. We went from 53,000 hospital beds to a total capacity of close to 90,000. They said we needed to do everything we could to “bend the curve” and reduce the transmission rate but that even with our best efforts they did not believe we could get the need below 110,000 beds. They did not believe that we could institute social distancing practices, close down all aspects of public life, and cause individual behavior change to any large degree. They said to me many times that even if the government announced the policies, they did not believe people would comply to a sufficient extent to reduce the transmission rate any lower or any faster. New Yorkers proved them all wrong. Not only did we not hit 110,000 hospital beds, we never went above 19,000. It was incredible.

  It’s not that they underestimated New Yorkers alone, but they assumed the pattern of behavior would be what they were seeing across the country. They assumed the lack of government credibility and the fragmented body politic that has been evident in this country over the past several years would continue. They didn’t expect people to rise to the occasion the way New Yorkers did. They didn’t foresee the possibility of a unified population, empowered, informed, and educated, forging a strong sense of community. But that’s what happened.

  We had been up the mountain, traversed the plateau, and survived the slow decline. We had gone through hell, and we were on the other side. The numbers were as low as they would go. All the scientists and health officials said that we would never get to zero COVID deaths. The goal was to get the infection rate down to about 1 percent and maintain it during the phased reopening. We had done that.

  That day, I would give my last daily briefing and do it direct to camera from behind the governor’s desk on the second floor of the state capitol—the same desk that FDR and my father had used.

  As I stood there, reflecting back on the past 111 days, a line from George Washington’s Farewell Address came to mind: “Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors.” In the span of time, with retrospection, facts and information may suggest there are things that we should have done differently. But I hope that New Yorkers know that I worked my hardest and I tried my best.

  I addressed the people of New York and others across the world, simply saying, “Over the past three months, we have done the impossible.” And they had.

  I was ending the daily briefings because the immediate job at hand was done, and I wanted the people to know it. I wanted to communicate the confidence and sense of accomplishment they should rightly feel. There would be future challenges, and they could handle them. I wanted to signal a reduction in the anxiety, but not complacency. Also because the briefings were about the truth, I truthfully didn’t have enough new information to justify their time on a daily basis. I said I would do the briefings in the future on an as-needed basis, which was probably a couple of times a week. If t
he situation changed and the facts changed, I would change.

  People ask me what I did after the daily briefings ended. The answer is, the same thing I did before the briefings. For me the intensity was only slightly less. Operating at a high level is in my nature, and then there’s really no time to relax when you’re the governor. And we had to begin the rebuilding in full force while at the same time stay vigilant. COVID isn’t done with us as a nation, because we haven’t learned the lesson of COVID yet. It will continue beating this country until we understand the true cause of our vulnerability and strengthen it.

  I believe New Yorkers were provided with the truth. They trusted the information they were given. They knew the challenge could only be mastered if they did it together, and they did. On day 111 it was over. It was time to catch our breath. We could sit back and reflect on what we had accomplished and mourn those we had lost. New Yorkers were proud, and they should have been. They were seeing the infection rate climb across the country and in countries around the world, and they knew they had done what we needed to do. They had saved lives—the lives of their neighbors, brothers, and sisters. They had gone from the worst infection rate in the nation to the lowest infection rate in the nation. For all the pain and loss, it was a beautiful moment in its own way. Yes, there would be challenges ahead—a growing national infection rate, young people not complying—and we would never really relax until the COVID vaccine was ready. But we had a new confidence in what we could accomplish together. We met a historic challenge. In some ways it wasn’t the end but only the beginning.

  THE AFTERMATH

  AFTER DAY 111, I FINALLY had time to catch up with my mother. Like all of us, this had been a very stressful time for her. The older we get, the more precious time becomes; we are painfully aware of how quickly it passes. Multiple months of disruption is a long time. My mother had been at my sisters’ homes, but now she wanted to return to her home. She didn’t want to debate it with me when I was in the middle of the briefings, but now she was clear and firm.

  My mother and I arrived at an uneasy compromise that allows her to spend some time at her own home, without any home aides. Home health aides come and go and could bring the infection into her house. My parents bought their apartment in 1995 after my father lost his reelection. Now the apartment is basically a shrine to my father. My mother didn’t change anything after his death. His desk, papers, books, are just the way he left them. His closet is still full. His razor is still on the sink. His office in the apartment is untouched, and it’s almost eerie. The only thing that’s missing is him. It’s almost a perfect painting of “what was” but for my father’s absence. If he reappeared in the painting, it would be exactly as he left it. I tried a couple of times to tell my mom to rearrange the space. I thought it might be better for her to move on. But I’m not sure that she wants to. My father is still very much present for her.

  Their relationship was what I call a “real love” affair. It was not glamorized or idealized. It was hard and imperfect. They were very different in basic ways, and they both gave up much for each other and their children. I’m sure they both had their moments in which they questioned their decisions. I am sure they went through the what-if scenarios. What if they had made different decisions in life? What if they had chosen other options? “What could have been” is a question that we all confront. But they lived their lives where they were, and they lived them to the fullest with no regrets. They were fundamentally happy.

  My mother had something that she wanted to share. She had watched all the briefings and been speaking with many people. All her friends through the years had called her. The people who worked with my father called and wrote to her. She had many thoughts and feelings that she had stored up for weeks until the time was right when we could have a real conversation. She had many specific points and questions that she wanted to talk through. My mother has been through a lot and learned much, and she wanted to share her opinions and thoughts. She had kept notes over the months, and she had pages of points that she wanted to make. But she had one main point that she wanted to convey. She wanted me to know how proud “we” were of what I had done. The “we” was she and my dad. My mother will still say “we” are happy or “we” want to give you this. She wanted me to know that they were both proud. Your father is proud, “so proud,” she said repeatedly.

  I do not have the right to speak for my father the way my mother does. After nearly sixty years of marriage she has that absolute right. That is what a lifetime of “real love” gives you. A lifetime of sharing everything. It is an intimacy from sharing life’s indignities. A trust based on years of trials and tribulations. A loyalty earned by sharing losses. “Real love” gives you that right.

  For all the complexity in life there are still essential elements that are so simple. Children want to make their parents proud. And parents need the vindication. It is the greatest gift a child can give a parent. I am glad that I gave her that gift. The fact that my children watched the entire situation unfold and were able to experience it with me was an unexpected treasure. There is a lifetime of wisdom in the past months. I’m sure they don’t appreciate it all today, but I’m also sure that they will look back on these moments for the rest of their lives and learn from the mistakes but also cherish the good. When they think of the relationship between my mother and me, I hope they will smile. I truly hope they will. They should. It is a beautiful thing.

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  LET ME END where I began. The COVID virus is not the extent of our problem. COVID merely exposed underlying weaknesses. America’s vulnerability has been growing for years. Our national division and government incompetence allowed the COVID virus to ravage our country. The only way to stop the virus was for people to unify and work together. Our political, geographic, religious, racial, and economic schisms make unification challenging. The term for viral transmission is “community spread,” and it is deeply ironic that the only way to stop “community spread” is by forging community.

  For too many years government service has been a dying art. I primarily point to the federal government, but it is also true for some state and local governments. Government no longer performs. It doesn’t build, solve, or improve. Our government has become an extension of our political campaigns. Rhetoric, platitudes, and positioning have become paramount. Our electoral process is for the most part no longer capable of selecting competent and qualified officials. We do not distinguish between those who merely advocate and those who actually accomplish.

  COVID required government performance. Yet the shortcomings were obvious. Testing, tracing, and health-care capacity needed to be mobilized and operationalized quickly. And too many governments simply failed.

  The two weaknesses exposed by COVID are not separate but rather symbiotic. National division and government incompetence feed and breed on each other. The less competent the government, the less progress is made, the more frustrated the public becomes and the more divided the nation. A divided nation leads to government paralysis, and the cycle continues.

  In theory the formula is simple: quality leadership, government competence, and national unity. New York conquered the first wave, but now I fear a new wave possibly coming. It is off in the distance, but it is building. What is worse is that it is a man-made wave. Mother Nature cannot be blamed for this one.

  By mid-June, New York’s problem had become that visitors from other states were bringing the virus here. It was déjà vu all over again. Federal incompetence allowed the virus to arrive in New York from Europe in the first place, making New York a global hot spot. New York, on its own, designed and implemented a strategy to flatten the curve and reduce the transmission rate, and now here we are again with the virus coming in across our borders.

  In late June, I joined with Governor Murphy of New Jersey and Governor Lamont of Connecticut to announce a fourteen-day quarantine for people coming from
states with a high infection rate. The number of states on the list would grow to more than half the country, then more than two-thirds. If I had not lived the situation every day, I would not have believed what has happened. The new threat is that New Yorkers, who worked so hard to contain the spread and bend the curve, could now be infected by people coming from other states with soaring infection rates. Hadn’t they seen what we went through? The refrigerated trucks to store the dead? Now those trucks are in Houston. Where else will they be needed? What does it take for people to open their eyes?

  It was all so unnecessary. We all worked so hard to save lives.

  We had the facts. There was nothing to debate. There were two theories that we tested in the laboratory of reality. The results were undeniable. Trump’s theory was to deny the existence of the virus and, when that didn’t work, act as if it were irrelevant and reopen the economy immediately. Our theory was that a virus requires a science-based solution and that a phased, data-driven reopening was smarter and better in the long term.

  Both theories have been put to the test. States like Arizona, Florida, and Texas that followed Trump’s demands to reopen quickly saw increased infection rates and needed to close their economies back down—reopening only to re-close. As a result, the financial markets were distressed with the volatility in these states. This stood in stark contrast to New York, where as of this writing 75 percent of our economy is open and our infection rate has been consistently 1 percent or below for nearly three months and among the lowest in the nation.