Taking office as governor on January 1, 2007, after a landslide victory, Spitzer declared, "We must transform our government so that it is as ethical and wise as all of New York."

The prostitution allegation was a surprise to Brooke Masters, author of the 2006 Spitzer biography "Spoiling for a Fight". She said she was "really surprised that [the scandal is] about personal ethics".

She said Spitzer's opponents on Wall Street accused him of a "holier-than-thou" attitude.

"He would say they had conflicts of interest while ignoring his own conflicts of interest. He certainly got a bit of criticism for having a bit of a double standard," she said.

"He would use his power of attorney general for what the business people thought was holding them hostage and giving them fines. They thought he was too virtuous."

Once seen as a rising star within the Democratic party, Spitzer had a rocky first year as governor. He was accused in July of using state police to keep tabs on a political rival, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and was forced to drop a plan to issue driver's licenses to undocumented workers in November amid public outcry.

The driver's license plan briefly gained national attention when presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York appeared to endorse it, then backed away from it. Spitzer endorsed Clinton.

Spitzer considered himself an heir of reformers such as Theodore Roosevelt, whose portrait he kept in his office as attorney general, Masters wrote in her biography.

If Spitzer resigns, Lt. Gov. David Paterson would complete his term, in accordance with the New York state constitution.  

(Xinhua News Agency March 11, 2008)