Edward Irving Koch, who was born in the Bronx on Dec. 12, 1924, was the 105th mayor of New York City for three terms, from 1978 to 1989.
In 1989, David Dinkins defeated him in the Democratic primary.
Before becoming mayor, Koch served for nine years as a congressman and two years as a member of the New York City Council.
He attended City College of New York from 1941 to 1943. In his last year of college, he was drafted into the Army, where he served with the 104th Infantry Division. He received two battle stars and a Combat Infantry badge, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant in 1946. He attended the New York University School of Law, where he received his L.L.B. degree in 1948 and began to practice law. In 1981, CCNY awarded Koch a B.A. degree.
Koch's major achievements as mayor include restoring fiscal stability to the city of New York and creating a housing program that provided 150,000 units of affordable housing over a 10-year period financed with$5.1 billion city funds.
He is a partner in the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association in New York City. He hosts a Saturday radio program on Bloomberg AM 1130 (WBBR) and also is a commentator on that station. Koch is a weekly guest on NY1 television, and he writes a weekly political column and publishes movie reviews. He is a co-columnist with former Sen. Al D’Amato for New York Magazine, and he lectures around the country and overseas.
Koch's books include "Mayor," 1984; "Politics," 1985; "His Eminence And Hizzoner," 1989; "All The Best," 1990; "Citizen Koch," 1992; "Ed Koch On Everything," 1994; "Murder At City Hall," 1995; "Murder On Broadway," 1996; "Murder on 34th Street," 1997; "The Senator Must Die," 1998; "Giuliani: Nasty Man," 1999; "I’m Not Done Yet: Remaining Relevant," 2000).