Leona Helmsley, the so-called "Queen of Mean" hotel operator and billionaire real estate investor who once famously said "Only the little people pay taxes," has died of heart failure at the age of 87. TalkLeft's Jeralyn Merritt says it turns out Helmsley had a heart for the little people.
Leona Helmsley's charitable activities included a $25 million gift to New York Presbyterian Hospital, $5 million to Katrina relief and $5 million to help the families of firefighters after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In the late 1990s, she gave millions of dollars to help rebuild African-American churches that had been burned in the South.
Of course, Helmsley was convicted of tax evasion and did time - thanks in part to the prosecutorial efforts of one Rudolph Giuliani.
By the way, although she often is used as a negative icon of the supposed excesses of the Reagan 1980s, the Queen of Mean and notorious tax evader actually gave money to Jimmy Carter's 1980 campaign. An OpenSecrets.org search reveals no recent political contributions from Helmsley to any federal candidates.
Hmmm...very interesting Bill. We learn something new every day don't we? I'm glad you chose to focus on the positive...what was intriguing to me was how so many focused on the negative press but like most people, Mrs. Helmsley was more than just the sum of her bad decisions.
Posted by: Kimberlee Morrison | August 20, 2007 7:18 PM | Permalink to Comment