From “Client Number 9” to Ethical Guru

The ex-governor of New York resigned two years ago because of his affinity for prostitution.

That famous pronouncement of F. Scott Fitzgerald about the nonexistence of second acts in the lives of Americans is now in doubt regarding the saga of Elliot Spitzer, the governor of New York who was obligated to resign in March of 2008 after his hobby of paying for sex came to light. Now, in the post-Clinton era, every disgraced politician enjoys, at the very least, the possibility of a second climb into American public life.

There are no financial concerns because of his family’s real estate fortune and, with the luck of having avoided federal indictment for his extracurricular activities, Spitzer has dedicated his free time since his forced exit from the state government of New York to reinventing himself. Being known as the infamous “client number 9” by the escort service where the unforgettable Ashley Alexandra Dupré worked, the wasted politician of the Democratic party has transformed himself into a curious brand of “ethical specialist” and a moral panelist. Apparently he has no problem commenting on the honesty of Wall Street or defining what love is.

In City College

As part of this fascinating process of transformation, Elliot Spitzer began to pursue a teaching position at the City College of New York, the same institution that received a $25 million donation from his multimillionaire father. On campus, Professor Spitzer is holding a one semester course on “Law and Public Politics.” The bloated bibliography he has assigned to his students covers Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill.

In this Nixonian rehabilitation effort, Spitzer has also beceome a regular television guest, having no problems appearing on comedy programs or making incursions as an internet columnist. His favorite theme, like an old fashioned “sheriff” of Wall Street, is the abuses committed by the American finance industry that caused the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Last November he was invited to speak at his alma mater, Harvard University, by a group dedicated to studying the question of ethics in public life.

During his speeches, with a difficult balance between public and private morals, the ex-governor at times sounds like a presidential candidate: “We have not reformed the system. We still have a system based upon institutions that are too big to fail, institutions that have received billions — indeed one could argue trillions — of taxpayer dollars and are not investing that money back into the system to create jobs for the future.”

Regarding his personal life, Spitzer claims to have learned “a new sense of affection” thanks to his three daughters and his saintly wife. He has also learned the invaluable lesson that “when you know something is stupid, don’t do it.”