In 1999, when he entered politics, rank-and-file Democrats were amused to have a Wall Street mogul preaching the kind of sweeping populist programs that the party had long abandoned: universal health care, preschool and long-term care. The timing of his rapid entry into politics - just six weeks after his ouster at Goldman - led many to view him as a dilettante willing to spend a sizable chunk of his $400 million fortune as a face-saving way to reinvent himself.
And spend he did.
$63 Million of His Own Money
Mr. Corzine poured $63 million of his own money into the race, and then doled out millions more to party leaders and interest groups. When he arrived in Washington with his wife, they picked out a Georgetown town house and bought it - contents and all - for $4.7 million in cash.
But within a year, he had left his wife and the stately New Jersey house in Summit where they had raised their three children. He moved to a Hoboken apartment building that was also home to the Giants quarterbacks Eli Manning and Jesse Palmer, who also starred in the reality series "The Bachelor."
Mr. Corzine replaced his grueling schedule of Wall Street executive with the self-imposed drudgery of fund-raising for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He also began a public romance with Ms. Katz, the president of Communications Workers of America Local 1034, a public employees' union representing thousands of state workers.
His ex-wife said that she noticed a change in her husband soon after he decided to run, in 1999, for the Senate. She said she had been taken aback by the blatant way party leaders bartered their endorsements in return for campaign contributions, and thought that her husband would be, too. But he brushed aside her concerns, calling them naïve, she said.
As his campaign and political goals became more consuming, Mr. Corzine distanced himself from friends and family, finally ending the 33-year marriage and leaving his old life behind, she said.
"When I saw the campaign ad where Andrea Forrester said, 'Doug never let his family down and he won't let New Jersey down,' all I could think was that Jon did let his family down, and he'll probably let New Jersey down, too," Ms. Corzine said. |
