His great-grandfather, Erastus Corning, was an industrialist who founded the New York Central Railroad and served in Congress and as Albany's mayor from 1834 to 1837.

The O'Connell machine proved so durable that it still largely controlled Albany County until the early 1980s, one of the last such organizations to remain viable.

Corning entered politics at an early age as an affiliate of the O'Connell organization, winning a seat in the New York State Assembly in 1935.

Corning was drafted for World War II and served in the United States Army's 2nd Infantry Division during combat in Europe.

[2] Corning's mother was born to American parents in Cawnpore, India, where her father Allan was serving as a missionary.

[12] Corning won the first of his 11 terms as mayor in November 1941, easily defeating the Republican candidate, Benjamin R. Hoff, by nearly 46,000 votes.

Shortly after his first term began, the newly elected Governor Thomas E. Dewey had the powerful Albany Democratic political machine, run by "Boss" Daniel P. O'Connell, investigated.

After having been previously classified as ineligible for military service during World War II, in 1944, Corning's draft status was changed and he was found eligible.

Opting not to apply for an officer's commission or specialty training in a field such as civil affairs, he joined the United States Army as a private.

[15] In France, Corning was initially attached to an organization that performed rebuilding duties in towns and villages that had been liberated from German occupation.

[16] During late 1944 and early 1945, he took part in the Battle of the Bulge and the Western Allied invasion of Germany and attained the rank of private first class.

The most notable exception was 1973 when a prominent businessman and reform candidate, Carl Touhey, ran a well-financed Republican campaign and came within 3,500 votes of defeating him.

[20][21] In 1977, Corning faced a primary election challenge from State Senator Howard C. Nolan Jr.,[22] defeating him by a comfortable margin.

Author William Kennedy recalled in his book “O Albany!” that at Corning's funeral, members of the media were asked not to "'focus undue attention'" on Noonan.

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands named Corning an officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, the country's highest citizen honor, in gratitude for his aid to Nijmegen following World War II.