Background

Rudy Giuliani, best known for his time as NYC Mayor during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is part lawyer part politician. In the 1970s, Giuliani went from being a Democrat to being an Independent, then, in the 1980s to the present he has claimed himself to be a Republican. Prior to becoming Mayor of New York City for two terms (1994-2001), Giuliani served in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, a placement which later made him a U.S. Attorney. As Mayor, he was credited with crime reduction and strong leadership in the face of great terror. In the lime light ever since, Giuliani has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2001 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. Giuliani has been married three times, once to his second cousin (Regina Peruggi), and currently to Judith Nathan. He has two children from a previous marriage (to Donna Hanover), Andrew and Caroline. He is currently a frontrunner for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination.

Early Life

Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 28, 1944, the only child of working-class parents Harold Angel Giuliani and Helen C. D'Avanzo, both second-generation Italian immigrants. The Roman Catholic Giuliani family included police officers, firefighters and criminals alike. Rudy's father spent time in Sing Sing prison for felony assault and robbery and later served as a Mafia enforcer for Rudy's uncle. When Rudy was seven, in 1951, the family moved to Garden City South on Long Island, where Rudy attended St. Anne's Catholic school. Rudy later commuted back to Brooklyn to attend Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School where he graduated in 1961. He went on to Manhattan College in Riverdale, Bronx where he majored in Political Science and minored in Philosophy, soon considering a life in the Church. He became president of his sophmore class, joinred the Phi Rho Pi fraternity and graduated in 1965. Rather than going into the priesthood, Giuliani opted for attendance at New York University School of Law in Manhattan, graduating cum laude with a Juris Doctor in 1968.

Birth of an Attorney

Upon graduation NYU School of Law, Giuliani worked for Judge Lloyd MacMahon, the United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. While Giuliani did not serve in the Vietnam War due to a student deferment at NYU, upon graduating he was classified 1-A. Denied another deferment, in 1969 Judge MacMahon contacted Giuliani's draft board and have him classified back to 2-A as an essential employee. In 1973 Rudy was named Chief of the Narcotics Unit and was later appointed United States Attorney. In 1975, he was recruited to Washington, D.C. where he was named Associate Deputy Attorney General and chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Harold "Ace" Tyler, under the Ford Administration. From 1977 to 1981, Giuliani practiced law at the Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler law firm as chief of staff to "Ace" Tyler, a boss who later called Rudy's prosecutorial tactics "overkill." In 1981, he was named Associate Attorney General under President Reagan, the 3rd highest position in the Department of Justice. In a high profile Mafia Commission trial (1985-86) Giuliani indicted eleven organized crime figures including the heads of New York's "Five Families." Eight were found guilty and the case was hailed as the most significant hit to Mafia infastructure yet attempted.

"America's Mayor"

In 1989, Giuliani attempted to unseat NYC Mayor Ed Koch, running as the fusion candidate for both the Republican and NY Liberal Party. Campaigning against the Democratic contender David Dinkins, Giuliani lost by 47,080 votes, the closest margin in city history. In 1993, Rudy gave it another shot, running on the Liberal Party line against Dinkins. Winning 53,367 more votes than Dinkins, Giuliani became Mayor of New York City. In 1997, the incumbent Giuliani was challenged by Democrat Ruth Messinger. With a fairly good percentage of New Yorkers approving of his first term, and all four major NYC daily newspapers behind him (NY Times, NY Daily News, NY Post, Newsday), Giuliani won his re-election campaign. Giuliani served as Mayor from 1994 to 2001.

During his Mayor years, Giuliani was extremely focused on cracking down on crime. Instituting CompStat, a comparative statistical approach to mapping crime geographically and in patterns, Giuliani was able to find the problem of crime in NYC and to show his success in combating it. As Mayor, Rudy set a limit for 90 days for homeless individuals' stays in shelters. Also, he ordered some unwanted businesses to move from Times Square, favoring high profile names such as MTV and Virgin. Giuliani cut education funding by over six billion dollars and during his administration, test scores fell. Gays and lesbians were given an equal footing with heterosexuals in the workplace and in terms of benefits in 1998.

On September 11, 2001, Giuliani was escalated to the national level. Taking an active, or at least highly visible, role in the post-attack environment, Giuliani received a 79% (Quinnipiac University) approval rating from NYC voters (Source: Quinnipiac University); just a year earlier it had been at 36%. Critics of Giuliani have cited the Mayors post-9/11 activities as political boosters; the Mayor had been noted as seeking a higher office even during his second term. While some insist Giuliani is a man of circumstance, others see him as showing great merit in the days following the terrorist attacks. After being denied a proposed end term extension (from January 1 to April 1) by the NY State Assembly and Senate, the mayoral election ran as usual and Giuliani-endorsed Republican Michael Bloomberg won, taking office on January 1, 2002.

In 1999 Giuliani formed an exploratory committee to look into a possible NY Senator seat. However, in 2000, just before a primary he was expected to win, Giuliani withdrew his candidacy, citing prostate cancer treatment as forcing him to back out. Democrat Hillary Clinton won the Senate seat, one she holds to this day.

What's a Mayor to Do?

After Giuliani left office of Mayor, he founded a security consulting business, Giuliani Partners LLC, a company which in the past five years have brought in $100 million and made Giuliani (Source: Washington Post) (WASHINGTON POST). In 2005, Giuliani joined Bracewell & Patterson LLP (later Bracewell & Giuliani LLP), a Texas-based firm specializes in energy, banking and financial institutions, environmental strategies and more.

2008 Presidential Campaign

Giuliani was campaigning for the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States. After a disappointing lose in Florida he announced he was dropping out the race. Giuliani proceeded to endorse McCain as a "national hero" and his choice for president.

Professional Positions

Accomplishments

Criticism

Additional Information

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