David Paterson was elected New York’s 74th lieutenant governor in 2006 after serving for more than two decades in the New York Senate.

He was born May 20, 1954, in Brooklyn, N.Y., earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Columbia University in 1977 and a law degree from Hofstra Law School in 1982, according to his Web site.

Paterson, who is legally blind, has been a trailblazer for much of his life in public service.

He became the New York Senate's minority leader in 2002, making him the first black legislative leader in the history of the state. In 2004, he was the first blind person to address the Democratic National Convention, and in 2006, he became New York's first African-American lieutenant governor.

"I have had this desire my whole life to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn't think I could do," he told the New York Times after he was elected lieutenant governor. "This is just another."

When he becomes governor, he will be the first black chief executive in the history of New York.

Paterson is married to Michelle Paige Paterson and the couple has two daughters.