Rudy Giuliani

Mayor of New York City

Rudolph W. "Rudy" Giuliani was the New York City mayor who became internationally famous for his proudly defiant reaction to attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. Giuliani, a 1968 graduate of New York University School of Law, began his political career in 1970 as a prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney. After a period in private practice in Washington, D.C. and a stint with Ronald Reagan's Department of Justice, Giuliani was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1993. Aggressive and ambitious, he made headlines by prosecuting Wall Street wheeler-dealers such as Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken and Marc Rich. He ran for mayor in 1989 and lost, ran again in 1993 and won. In spite of a successful run as a tough-on-crime mayor who improved city government, Giuliani's troubled personal life and long history of political squabbles dominated the headlines in his second term. Tabloids exploited public feuds between Giuliani, his wife, Donna Hanover, and his girlfriend, Judith Nathan; a series of police brutality cases were public relations disasters; and a potential run at the U.S. Senate against Hillary Clinton was aborted when Giuliani was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

After the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center, Rudy rose to the occasion, and in the absence of President George W. Bush, whose whereabouts were unknown for several hours, it was Giuliani who was the voice of authority on American television. His response was hailed internationally and earned him the nickname of "America's Mayor." His term as mayor ended soon after, and Giuliani went into business and hit the lecture circuit. He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, but left the race after finishing behind Mitt Romney and John McCain in early primaries.

Extra credit: Giuliani married Judith Nathan in 2003... Marc Rich, a billionaire prosecuted by Giuliani in 1983, fled to Switzerland rather than stand trial. Before leaving office in 2001, Bill Clinton issued a presidential pardon to Rich. Among Rich's lawyers over the years was Lewis "Scooter" Libby, later the chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney and the subject of an indictment in the Plame Investigation.

Giuliani appears with Mike Huckabee in our loop on Candidates 2008.

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