A Letter From the Publisher

By Richard B. Thomas

Any TIME cover story requires probing into the psyche and background of the newsmakers it features. This was especially true in the case of this week's cover subject, Governor Mario Cuomo of New York, who is preoccupied by philosophy and ethics as well as politics. Covering him prompted reporters and writers to brush up on theology and study his ethnic heritage in addition to scrutinizing his record and analyzing his speeches.

"I observed Governor Cuomo half-a-dozen times over the course of a few months," says Staff Writer Richard Stengel, who wrote the main story. "He's funny and engaging, a person of tremendous charm, great personal presence and far-ranging knowledge. He sometimes communicates the feeling that others don't meet his standards." Stengel delved into the work of controversial Roman Catholic Paleontologist-The ologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, whose stress on the importance of mankind gave Cuomo a rationale in his quest for social justice. When Cuomo traveled to Stengel's alma mater, Princeton University, to make an address, the writer tagged along. "People were hanging off the rafters to get a look at him," says Stengel. "I don't remember anyone getting that rock-star treatment when I was a student in the '70s."

Boston Bureau Chief Robert Ajemian, who reported and wrote the accompanying story on the development of Cuomo's intellectual and moral codes, has covered U.S. politics and politicians for the past 30 years. Still, he found Cuomo a compelling and challenging subject. "He shows you many different sides of himself," notes Ajemian, "but the fact is he has superb information control. It is the trial lawyer in him, no doubt. He instantly reads one's questions and the motives of one's questions."

At times, the reporter felt that he was being cross-examined by Cuomo. Says Ajemian: "He is always ready to pounce, eager to challenge a fuzzy assumption or murky language." In the course of his reporting, he followed the Governor through a wide range of activities, from visiting a supporter dying of AIDS to conducting meetings of his senior political staff. Cuomo eventually allowed Ajemian to read passages from his personal diary, which only his secretary had seen. "They are a fascinating look at another side of the man, someone quite different from the one the public sees," says Ajemian. The result of it all: a rare and penetrating insight into a complex public figure.