Mario M. Cuomo, New York's 52nd governor, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan at the age of 82.

The three-term governor will be remembered as a leading figure in the progressive movement, his fierce defense of liberalism during the Reagan era and his timeless 1984 speech at the Democratic convention. Cuomo also appointed the first Latino and African-American judges to the New York State Court of Appeals while in office.

The former governor died from heart failure Thursday evening just hours after his son, Andrew M. Cuomo, was inaugurated for a second term as governor of New York.

Cuomo served as governor from 1983 through 1994, when he was defeated by Republican Gov. George Pataki, reports the New York Times. He was also a leading presidential contender in 1988 and 1992, although he never formally entered the race.

Cuomo is renowned for his "City on a Hill" speech at the Democratic Convention in San Francisco in 1984, which directly challenged then-President Ronald Reagan's "shining city," reports The Daily Beast.

"There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city," said Cuomo.

He also talked about his modest upbringing and being raised by immigrant parents in Queens, New York.

"And that they were able to build a family and live in dignity and see one of their children go from behind their little grocery store in South Jamaica on the other side of the tracks where he was born, to occupy the highest seat in the greatest state of the greatest nation in the only world we know, is an ineffably beautiful tribute to the democratic process," Cuomo said.

A number of New York politicians expressed condolence while praising the former governor for his leadership, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who sent out a tweet Thursday, saying: "Tonight, New York has lost a giant. Mario Cuomo was a man of unwavering principle who possessed a compassion for humankind without equal."

"Today the New York family lost one of its greatest sons. Prayers to all who knew and loved Mario. -cs" wrote NY Sen. Chuck Schumer on Twitter.

President Barack Obama also lauded the "Italian Catholic kid from Queens" for his life of public service in "the state he loved," reports NBC New York.

Likewise, President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement describing Cuomo's legacy as "the embodiment of the American dream."