Rudy Giuliani
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Rudolph W. Giuliani |
Mayor of New
York City |
| |
|
In office |
|
1994 - 2001 |
| Preceded by |
David N. Dinkins |
| Succeeded by |
Michael R. Bloomberg |
| Born |
May 28, 1944
Brooklyn,
New York |
| Residence |
New York |
| Political party |
Republican |
| Religion |
Roman Catholic |
| Spouse |
Judith Nathan |
| Children |
Andrew, Caroline, Whitney |
| |
Website: http://www.solutionsamerica.com/ |
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani III, (born May 28, 1944)
is an American politician and attorney, best known for his service as
the Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1994, through December 31,
2001. His role in leading the City during and after the September 11
terrorist attacks raised his national stature and led him to be named
Time Magazine's 2001 Person of the Year.
The defining moment in Giuliani's career was his management of the
September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. His public visibility
in the days following the attacks earned him the nickname "America's
Mayor." Since leaving office as Mayor of New York, Giuliani has
pursued business and legal interests, and has remained politically active
by campaigning for Republican candidates for political offices at all
levels. On November 13, 2006, he formed an exploratory committee to
consider entering the 2008 Presidential Campaign. and is expected to
declare his candidacy. The committee filed papers with the FEC on November
22, 2006.
Giuliani is currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Giuliani
Partners LLC, a security consulting company he founded in 2002, and
is a partner in the Houston-based law firm Bracewell & Giuliani
LLP.
Personal
Giuliani was born in Brooklyn, New York, raised in Garden City South on Long
Island, to Harold Angelo Giuliani and Helen C. D'Avanzo, the children
of Italian immigrants. He attended Manhattan College before graduating
from the prestigious New York University School of Law cum laude in
1968.
Giuliani is married to Judith Nathan; this is his third marriage. He
has two children, Andrew and Caroline, from his second marriage to television
personality Donna Hanover, and one stepdaughter, Whitney, who is Nathan's
daughter. Giuliani's first marriage, to Regina Peruggi, was annulled
after fourteen years, according to Giuliani, because he discovered he
and his wife were second cousins.. The couple did not have any children.
Early career
After a law clerkship following graduation from NYU School of Law, in 1970,
Giuliani joined the Office of the US Attorney.
In 1973, he was named Chief of the Narcotics Unit and rose to serve
as executive US Attorney. In 1975, Giuliani was recruited to Washington,
D.C., where he was named Associate Deputy Attorney General and chief
of staff to the Deputy Attorney General. His first high-profile prosecution
was of Congressman Bert Podell, who was convicted of corruption. From
1977 to 1981, Giuliani practiced law at the Patterson, Belknap, Webb
and Tyler law firm.
In 1981, Giuliani was named Associate Attorney General in the Reagan
Administration, placing him in the third-highest position in the Department
of Justice. As Associate Attorney General, Giuliani supervised all of
the US Attorney Offices' Federal law enforcement agencies, the Department
of Corrections, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the United
States Marshals Service.
In a well-publicized 1982 case, Giuliani testified in defense of the
federal government "detention posture" of interning over 2,000
unlawfully-immigrated Haitian refugees in refugee camps, at one point
stating that there was "no political repression" under President
Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York, 1983-1989
In 1983, Giuliani was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District
of New York. It was in this position that he first gained national prominence
by prosecuting numerous high-profile cases, including the successful
prosecutions of Wall Street figures Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken for
insider trading. He also spearheaded the effort to jail drug dealers,
combat organized crime, break the web of corruption in government, and
prosecute white-collar criminals. He amassed a record of 4,152 convictions
with only 25 reversals. Critics disparaged Giuliani, claiming he arranged
public arrests of people, then dropped charges for lack of evidence
rather than going to trial.
Marc Rich, Pincus Green case
It was in 1983 that Giuliani indicted financiers Marc Rich and Pincus
Green on charges of tax evasion and making illegal oil deals with Iran
during the hostage crisis, in one of the first cases in which the RICO
Act was employed in a non-organized crime case. Rich and Green fled
the United States to avoid prosecution; both were controversially pardoned
by the executive order of President Bill Clinton in 2001.
Mafia Commission trial
 |
Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, head of the Genovese crime family,
was convicted by Giuliani and sentenced to 100 years in prison. |
In the Mafia Commission Trial (February 25, 1985 - November 19, 1986), Giuliani
indicted eleven organized crime figures, including the heads of New York's so-called
"Five Families," under the RICO Act on charges including extortion,
labor racketeering, and murder for hire. Time Magazine called this "Case
of Cases" possibly "the most significant assault on the infrastructure
of organized crime since the high command of the Chicago Mafia was swept away
in 1943," and quoted Giuliani's stated intention: "Our approach...is
to wipe out the five families."
The inital defendants included:
- Paul "Big Paul" Castellano, head of the Gambino crime family
- Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, head of the Genovese crime family
- Carmine "Junior" Persico, head of the Colombo Family
- Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo, head of the Lucchese crime family
- Philip "Rusty" Rastelli, head of the Bonanno family,
and six subordinates. Eight defendants were found guilty on all counts
and subsequently sentenced on January 13, 1987 to hundreds of years
of prison time.
Boesky, Milken trials
 |
Michael Milken was indicted by Giuliani on 98 counts of racketeering
and securities fraud. |
Ivan Boesky was a Wall Street arbitrageur who had amassed a fortune of about
US $200 million by betting on corporate takeovers. He was investigated by the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for making investments based on tips
received from corporate insiders. These stock acquisitions were sometimes brazen,
with massive purchases occurring only a few days before a corporation announced
a takeover. Although insider trading of this kind was illegal, laws prohibiting
it were rarely enforced until Boesky was prosecuted. Boesky cooperated with
the SEC and informed on several of his insiders, including junk bond trader
Michael Milken:
"Boesky admitted to numerous offenses and then turned state's evidence,
primarily against Milken. He received a 3 1/2 year prison sentence
and $100 million fine after admitting to the charges and reached a
plea bargain with Rudy Giuliani...[who would] draw criticism because
Ivan was allowed to unload his holdings before his indictment was
officially announced, realizing profits from it before being convicted.
Others considered the sentence and fine as being too light. But Giuliani
and company was [sic] after a much bigger fish, namely Milken."
In 1989, Giuliani charged Milken under the RICO act with 98 counts of racketeering
and fraud. In a highly-publicized case, Milken was indicted by a federal
grand jury, and after a plea bargain, pled guilty to six lesser securities
and reporting violations.
He paid a total of $900 million in fines and settlements relating primarily
to civil lawsuits and was banned for life from the securities industry.
Mayoral campaigns, 1989 and 1993
Giuliani was U.S. Attorney until January 1989, resigning as the Reagan
administration ended. He then joined the law firm White & Case in New York
City, as a partner. He remained with White & Case until May 1990, when he
joined the law firm Anderson Kill Olick & Oshinsky, also in New York
City.
1989 campaign
Giuliani first ran for New York City Mayor as the candidate of both
the Republican and Liberal parties, attempting to succeed Ed Koch in
1989. Giuliani lost to Democrat David Dinkins by 47,080 votes out of
1,899,845 votes cast, in the closest election in city history.
1993 campaign and election
In 1993, Giuliani again ran for Mayor. The principal issues of the election
of 1993 were crime and taxes. Giuliani also campaigned on what he perceived
to be the unchecked expansion of the city's budget and the lack of managerial
competence of incumbent David Dinkins. While Dinkins had frequently
and eloquently voiced his affection for New York City diversity while
in office, his tenure bore witness to anti-Semitic rioting in Crown
Heights and an Al Sharpton-led black boycott of Korean businesses in
Brooklyn.
Giuliani focused on what he described as a breakdown of social and political order
that Dinkins had been either unwilling or unable to address effectively.
In addition, the City was suffering from a spike in unemployment associated
with the nationwide recession, with local unemployment rates going from
6.7% in 1989 to 11.1% in 1992, and was suffering from an all-time high
in the crime rate. These were contrasted with Dinkins's appeal to the "gorgeous
mosaic" of New York ethnic diversity.
Giuliani promised a return to social order, addressing day-to-day issues
rather than past or imminent crises: Poverty, welfare, and the prevalence of
homeless panhandlers on streets and
subways, and improving New York City's image via improvements on crime,
infrastructure and urban revitalization.
He promised to focus the police department on shutting down petty crimes
and nuisances as a way of restoring the City's quality of life: "It's
the street tax paid to drunk and drug-ridden panhandlers. It's the squeegee
men shaking down the motorist waiting at a light. It's the trash storms,
the swirling mass of garbage left by peddlers and panhandlers, and open-air
drug bazaars on unclean streets."
Giuliani won the election by a margin of 53,367 votes, with 49.25% of the electorate
to the incumbent's 46.42% share. He became the first Republican elected
Mayor of New York City since John Lindsay won re-election in 1969.
Mayoralty
Crime control
In his first term as mayor, Giuliani, in conjunction with New York City Police
Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, adopted an aggressive enforcement-deterrent
strategy based on James Q. Wilson's Broken Windows research. This involved
crackdowns on relatively minor offenses such as graffiti, turnstile
jumping, and aggressive "squeegeemen", on the principle that
this would send a message that order would be maintained, and that the
city would be "cleaned up".
Giuliani also directed the New York City Police Department to aggressively
pursue enterprises linked to organized crime, such as the Fulton Fish
Market and the Javits Center on the West Side (Gambino crime family),
in the breaking up of mob control of solid waste removal, the city was
able to save city businesses over $600 million.
One of the first initiatives of Giuliani and Bratton was the institution
of CompStat in 1994, a comparative statistical approach to mapping crime geographically
and in terms of emerging criminal patterns, as well as charting officer
performance by quantifying criminal apprehensions. CompStat was operationalized
by the empowerment of precinct commanders, based on the assumption that
local authorities could best institute crime reduction techniques specific
to their experiential knowledge of their own localities. This system
also enhanced the accountability of both the commanders and the officers
themselves. Critics of the system assert that it creates an environment
in which police officials are encouraged to underreport or otherwise
manipulate crime data.
Giuliani continued to highlight crime reduction and law enforcement as
central missions of his mayoralty throughout both terms, efforts which largely
met with success. Concurrent with his achievements, a number of tragic cases of
abuse of authority took place, and numerous allegations of civil rights abuses
were leveled.
Giuliani's own Deputy Mayor, Rudy Washington, alleged that he had been
harassed by police on several occasions. More controversial still were
several police shootings of unarmed suspects, and the scandals surrounding
the brutalization of Abner Louima and the killing of Amadou Diallo.
In a case less nationally-publicized than those of Louima and Diallo,
unarmed bar patron Patrick Dorismond was killed shortly after declining
the overtures of what turned out to be an undercover officer soliciting
illegal drugs. Even while hundreds of outraged New Yorkers protested,
Giuliani staunchly supported the New York City Police Department, going
so far as to take the unprecedented step of releasing Dorismond's "extensive
criminal record" to the public.
The amount of credit Giuliani's policies deserve for the drop in the crime
rate is disputed by critics. A small but significant nationwide drop in crime
preceded Giuliani's election, and he may have been the beneficiary of a trend
already in progress. Additional contributing factors to the overall decline
in crime during the 1990's was federal funding of an additional 7,000 police
officers and an overall improvement in the national economy. Many experts believe
changing demographics were the factor most responsible for crime rate reductions,
which were similar across the country during this time. Different studies show
that New York's drop in crime rate in the '90s and '00s exceeds all national
figures and therefore should be linked with a local dynamic that was not present
as such anywhere else in the country: "most focused form of policing in
history. Zimring (Frank Zimring - The Great American Crime Decline) estimates
that up to half of New York's crime drop in the 1990s, and virtually 100 percent
of its continuing crime decline since 2000, has resulted from policing."
However, any "credit for keeping Gotham on the path of ongoing crime reduction
belongs to Ray Kelly, serving his second tour of duty as the NYPD's commissioner.(...)
Giuliani loyalists, perennially predicting le déluge, greeted Kelly's appointment
with dismay."
Many New Yorkers believe the policies under Mayor Giuliani's pertaining
to the policing of NYC to have been effective. This view was obviously
not limited to New York City residents, as several programs similar
to CompStat were subsequently instituted by a variety of urban police
departments nationwide.
Urban reconstruction
Giuliani pursued similarly aggressive real estate policies. The Times Square
redevelopment project saw Times Square transformed from a seedy, run-down
center for businesses ranging from tourist attractions and peep shows
to a gleaming, high-priced district filled with family-oriented stores
and theaters, including the MTV studios and a massive Disney store and
theater. Giuliani faced some opposition to these changes, which critics
alleged displaced low income residents of the area in favor of large
corporations. His critics also alleged that the Giuliani administration's
real estate policies tended to reduce the amount of usable public space
in the city while increasing the amount of private or corporate space
(e.g., the sale of city-owned community gardens to private developers).
Throughout his term, Giuliani also pursued the construction of a new
sports stadium in Manhattan, a goal in which he did not succeed, though
new minor league baseball stadiums opened in Brooklyn, for the Brooklyn
Cyclones, and in Staten Island, for the Staten Island Yankees. Conversely,
Guiliani refused to attend the opening ceremonies for a Dinkins success,
Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens, stating his anger with
a contract that fines the city if planes from LaGuardia Airport fly
over the stadium during U.S. Open matches. Giuliani boycotted the U.S.
Open throughout his mayoralty.
Immigration
Giuliani has been criticized for embracing illegal immigration. Giuliani
continued a policy of preventing city employees from contacting INS
about immigration violations. He ordered city attorneys to defend this
policy in federal court. Giuliani has also expressed doubt that the
federal government can stop illegal immigration. In April 2006, Giuliani
went on the record as favoring the US Senate's comprehensive immigration
plan which includes a path to citizenship and a guest worker plan. He
rejected the US House approach because he does not think House Resolution
4437 could be enforced.
Media management
Giuliani, after being elected, started a weekly call-in program on WABC radio.
He avoided one-on-one interviews with the press, preferring to only
speak to them at press conferences or on the steps of City Hall. Giuliani
made frequent visits to The Late Show with David Letterman television
show, sometimes appearing as a guest and sometimes participating in
comedy segments. In one highly publicized appearance that took place
shortly after his election, Giuliani filled a pothole in the street
outside the Ed Sullivan theater.
Donald Rumsfeld and Rudy Giuliani at the site of the World Trade Center, on November 14
2001. Foreign Policy Actions
In 1995, Giuliani made national headlines by ordering PLO Chairman
Yasser Arafat ejected from a Lincoln Center concert held in celebration
of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. "Maybe
we should wake people up to the way this terrorist is being romanticized,"
Giuliani said, and noted that Arafat had been implicated in the murder
of American civilians and diplomatic personnel. A spokesman for the
Clinton Administration stated Giuliani's actions were "an embarrassment
to everyone associated with diplomacy."
Brooklyn Museum art controversy
In 1999 Giuliani threatened to cut off city funding for the Brooklyn Museum
if the museum did not remove a number of works in an exhibit entitled "Sensation:
Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection." One work in particular,
The Holy Virgin Mary by Turner Prize winning-artist Chris Ofili (a Catholic
himself), featured the Virgin Mary next to elephant dung and female genitalia
pictures. It was targeted as being offensive to some in the Christian community
in New York, leading the artist to comment that "This is all about control."
In its defense, the museum filed a lawsuit, charging Giuliani with
violating the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Religious
groups such as the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights supported
the mayor's actions, while it was condemned by groups such as the American
Civil Liberties Union, objecting to the mayor's censorship and interference
with the first amendment rights of the museum. The museum's lawsuit
was successful; the mayor was ordered to resume funding, and the judge,
Federal District Judge Nina Gershon, declared "[t]here is no federal
constitutional issue more grave than the effort by government officials
to censor works of expression and to threaten the vitality of a major
cultural institution as punishment for failing to abide by governmental
demands for orthodoxy."
Run for United States Senate
In April 1999 Giuliani formed an exploratory committee in connection with the
2000 New York United States Senate election, seeking the Republican
nomination to fill the seat vacated by the retiring Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
His expected Democratic opponent was Hillary Rodham Clinton. On May
19, 2000, before the Republican primary, which he was expected to win,
he withdrew his candidacy because of prostate cancer, the Farmersville
Garbage Scandal which significantly reduced his support in his core
upstate counties, and the fallout from his affair and messy divorce
from his wife Donna Hanover. During the ill-fated campaign, Giuliani
was forced to confess to his marital infidelities and, in the process,
lost a further significant base of electoral support. New York Congressman
Rick Lazio replaced Giuliani as the Republican nominee and lost to Clinton.
September 11 terrorist attacks
The defining episode in Giuliani's career was his management of the September
11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. He witnessed the first collapse,
the South Tower at the World Trade Center. He coordinated the response
of various city departments while organizing the support of state and
federal authorities for the World Trade Center site, for city-wide anti-terrorist
measures, and for restoration of destroyed infrastructure. He made frequent
appearances on radio and television on September 11 and afterwards to
communicate critical information to the public; for example, to indicate
that tunnels would be closed as a precautionary measure, and that there
was no reason to believe that the dispersion of chemical or biological
weaponry into the air were a factor in the attack. He balanced the need
to make hundreds of decisions directly and immediately, to delegate
hundreds of others, and to visit the injured and console the families
of the dead.
When Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal suggested that the attacks were
an indication that the United States "should re-examine its policies
in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian
cause," Giuliani asserted,
- There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist] act. There is
no justification for it... And one of the reasons I think this happened
is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding
the difference between liberal democracies like the United States,
like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism.
So I think not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the
problem.
New York City subsequently rejected the prince's $10 million donation to
disaster relief in the aftermath of the attack.
In the wake of the attacks, Giuliani was widely hailed for his decisive
and undaunted leadership during the crisis. For this, he was named TIME
magazine's Person of the Year for 2001, and given an honorary knighthood
by Queen Elizabeth II on February 13, 2002.
Giuliani has been subject to increased criticism for downplaying the
health effects of the air in the Financial District and lower Manhattan
areas in the vicinity of the Ground Zero. He moved quickly to reopen
Wall Street, and it was reopened on September 17. However, in the weeks
after the attacks, the United States Geological Survey identified hundreds
of asbestos hot spots of debris dust that remained on buildings. By
the end of the month the USGS reported that the toxicity of the debris
was akin to that of a household cleaner. The city's health agencies,
such as the Department of Environmental Protection, did not supervise
or issue guidelines for the testing and cleanup of private buildings.
Instead, the city left this responsibility to building owners.
Firefighters, police and their unions, have criticized Giuliani over
the issue of protective equipment and illnesses after the attacks. An October study by the National Institute
of Environmental Safety and Health said that cleanup workers lacked
adequate protective gear.
"America's Mayor"
In his public statements, Giuliani mirrored the emotions of New Yorkers after
the September 11 attacks: shock, sadness, anger, resolution to rebuild, and the
desire for justice to be done to those responsible. "Tomorrow New York is going
to be here," he said. "And we're going to rebuild, and we're going to be
stronger than we were before...I want the people of New York to be an example to
the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can't stop
us." Giuliani was widely praised for his close involvement with the rescue and
recovery efforts.
As an avid and public fan of the New York Yankees, who won four World Series
Championships during his time as mayor, Giuliani was frequently sighted
at Yankee games, often accompanied by his son. On September 21, 2001,
the first game was played in New York City after the attacks, with the
New York Mets at home facing the Atlanta Braves. Despite his being a
Yankee fan, the crowd cheered for him and for his leadership over the
preceding days.
 |
Rudy Giuliani, 2001 Time Person of the Year. |
2001 Mayoral election controversy
The 9/11 attack occurred on the scheduled date of the mayoral primary
to select the Democratic and Republican candidates to succeed Giuliani.
The primary was immediately delayed two weeks to September 25. During
this period, Giuliani sought an unprecedented three-month emergency
extension of his term, from its scheduled expiration on January 1 to
April 1, due to the circumstances of the emergency besetting the city.
He threatened to challenge the law imposing term limits on elected New York City officials
and run for another full four-year term, if the primary candidates did
not consent to permit the extension of his mayoralty.
Advocates for the extension contended that Giuliani was needed to manage
the initial requests for funds from Albany and Washington, speed up
recovery, and slow down the exodus of jobs from lower Manhattan to outside
New York City. Opponents viewed the extension as an unprecedented power
grab and as a means for Giuliani to profit politically from the sudden,
international prominence of the role of New York City Mayor. Although
a provision for emergency extensions is written into the New York State
Constitution (Article 3 Section 25), leaders in the State Assembly and
Senate indicated that they did not believe the extension was necessary
and the election and inauguration proceeded as scheduled.
Time Person of the Year
In 2001, TIME magazine named Giuliani Person of the Year. TIME observed
that, prior to 9/11, the public image of Giuliani had been that of a
rigid, self-righteous, ambitious politician. After 9/11, and perhaps
owing also to his bout with cancer, his public image had been reformed
to that of a man who could be counted on to unite a city in the midst
of its greatest crisis. Thus historian Vincent J. Cannato concluded
in September, 2006, "With time, Giuliani's legacy will be based
on more than just 9/11. He left a city immeasurably better off -- safer,
more prosperous, more confident -- than the one he had inherited eight
years earlier, even with the smoldering ruins of the World Trade Center
at its heart. Debates about his accomplishments will continue, but the
significance of his mayoralty is hard to deny."
Political critics
At the same time, however, voices were being raised against the refrain
that it was the mayor who had pulled the city together. "You didn't
bring us together, our pain brought us together and our decency brought
us together. We would have come together if Bozo was the mayor,"
said civil-rights activist Al Sharpton, in a statement largely supported
by Fernando Ferrer, one of three main candidates for the mayoralty at
the end of 2001.
Post-mayoralty
Rudy Giuliani at NYFPC briefing on "New York City - 1
Year After 9/11".
2003 television biopic
In 2003, the "USA Network" aired a made-for-television movie:
"Rudy: The Rudy Guiliani Story" with James Woods in the title
role.
Consulting
After leaving the mayor's office, Giuliani built a security consulting
business and gave speeches. On December 1, 2004 his consulting firm announced it
purchased accounting firm Ernst & Young's investment banking unit. The new
investment bank will be known as Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC and will advise
companies on acquisitions, restructurings and other strategic issues.
Commercial endorsement
Giuliani and Giuliani Partners struck a deal to promote the wireless
communication company Nextel.
2004
Giuliani, who campaigned on behalf of the reelection of George W. Bush in the
2004 election, was reportedly the top choice for Secretary of Homeland
Security after the resignation of Tom Ridge. When suggestions were made
that Giuliani's confirmation hearings would be marred by details of
his past affairs and scandals, he turned down the offer and instead
recommended his friend and former New York Police Commissioner Bernard
Kerik. Kerik in his pre-announcement interviews with the White House
failed to disclose facts in his past which were certain to disqualify
him. After the formal announcement of Kerik's nomination, information
known for years to local reporters, but unreported, became widely known.
The political fallout was damaging to the perception of competence in
the White House vetting process and doubts as to the political judgment
of Giuliani in recommending Kerik in the first place.
Giuliani cutting the ribbon of the new Drug Enforcement Agency
mobile museum in Dallas, Texas in Sept. 2003 2005
On March 31, 2005, it was announced that Giuliani would join the firm of
Bracewell & Patterson LLP (renamed Bracewell &
Giuliani LLP) as a name partner and symbolic head of the expanding firm's
new New York office. Despite a busy schedule the former mayor is known to be
highly active in the day-to-day business of the Texas-based law firm. While
there was early speculation that the firm would merge with Giuliani Partners,
this is a legal impossibility (As a matter of ethics, lawyers cannot share legal
fees with non-lawyers). However, while the firm is completely independent of the
consulting business, the two entities maintain a close strategic
partnership.
2006
Speculation that Giuliani might become a candidate for statewide office occurred
in 2006, either for the United States Senate challenging incumbent Hillary
Clinton, or for Governor of New York as Governor George Pataki announced
that he would not seek re-election for a fourth term on July 27, 2005.
The consensus of political observers then was that Giuliani would not
run even though polls show that he would be favored in a matchup against
Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer; in any case, a Giuliani spokesman
says that he "has no intention" of running, leaving no clear
favorite among Republicans. With Giuliani staying out of the Senate
race, the Republican nomination was contested among several lesser-known
candidates, with none gaining much traction and several dropping out
(see New York gubernatorial election, 2006). Democrat Eliot Spitzer
won the governorship by 41% margin.
On March 15, 2006, Congress announced the formation of the Iraq Study
Group (ISG), of which Giuliani was appointed a member but then resigned.
The ISG is a bipartisan task force which authored the Iraq Study Group
Report, an assessment of US involvement in Iraq.
On May 12, 2006, Cinema Libre Studio released Giuliani Time, a critical,
feature-length documentary about Giuliani's personal and political history.
On August 15, 2006, a poll from Rasmussen Reports revealed the perception
of Giuliani as a moderate.
On November 13, 2006, Giuliani announced during a leadership conference
in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania that he had taken the first step toward
a potential 2008 White House bid by forming a presidential exploratory
committee. He has not officially decided if he will run. By forming
the committee Giuliani is able to travel and gauge support without formally
declaring his candidacy, which would subject him to federal fundraising
laws.
Anticipated 2008 presidential campaign
Rudy Giuliani speaks to the press about New York's status two
years after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Draft Rudy Giuliani for President, Inc., registered with the Federal
Election Commission in October 2005, became the first federal committee
formed with the sole purpose of encouraging former New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani to run for President of the United States in 2008. Throughout
2006, various rumors circulated concerning a Giuliani campaign for President
and Giulani himself hinted at his intentions. On November 13, 2006,
the Associated Press reported that Rudy Giuliani filed papers to create
the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee, Inc., allowing
him to raise money for national travel and for a Presidential campaign.
The committee filed papers with the FEC on November 22, 2006
Early 2008 Presidential polls show him with one of the highest levels
of name recognition and support. A recent Gallup poll found Giuliani
to be the most "acceptable" nominee for Republicans, with
73% giving him a thumbs-up and 25% dismissing him as "unacceptable."
By this measure, he led both Condoleezza Rice (68%-29%) and John McCain
(55%-41%). The same poll also found Giuliani leading the Republican
field with 29% support, with John McCain at 24%, Newt Gingrich at 8%,
and both Mitt Romney and Bill Frist at 6%.
Political views
Supporters point to his leadership of New York City during the September 11,
2001 attacks and his coordination of the emergency response in the immediate
aftermath, as well as his track record of success in reducing crime and
improving the economy of New York City. The prospect of a Republican candidate
with the potential to win New York State's electoral votes would
be a strategic victory for the Republican Party, although the prospect is
extremely unlikely, in particular in the case of New York Senator Hillary
Clinton running on the Democratic ticket.
Giuliani is a Roman Catholic who is pro-choice, also favoring same-sex
civil unions, gun control, and embryonic stem-cell research. Pro-life
groups, such as the Republican National Coalition for Life, have already
announced their intention to oppose Giuliani or any other pro-choice
candidate, though evidence suggests that even among these voters, he
enjoys some support.
Potential pitfalls
Even if Giuliani can overcome his relatively liberal record on social issues
such as gun control, gay marriage, and abortion among Republicans during the
presidential nomination process, personal issues in his past could also become
issues in a campaign, as well as a percieved history of racism.
Giuliani's relationship with Judith Nathan, (who later became Giuliani's third
wife) was well-publicized by local media as it appeared to have begun
during his marriage to his second wife. Before his divorce, Giuliani
hinted at the relationship by referring to Judith Nathan as his "very
good friend." On May 10, 2000 Mr. Giuliani announced at a press
conference that he was seeking a separation from his wife, Donna Hanover
without first informing her of his decision.
Mr. Giuliani went on to praise Judith Nathan as a "very, very
fine woman," and said about his marriage with Donna Hanover, that
"over the course of some period of time in many ways, we've grown
to live independent and separate lives." The mayor's assertion
was contradicted three hours later by his former wife, who said, "I
had hoped that we could keep this marriage together. For several years,
it was difficult to participate in Rudy's public life because of his
relationship with one staff member." Ms. Hanover was referring
to Cristyne Lategano-Nicholas, the mayor's former communications director.
The mayor and Ms. Lategano-Nicholas denied those allegations in the
past, and continue to deny them now.
Giuliani's leading competitor for the Republican nomination, Senator
John McCain, is also divorced and remarried.
Giuliani may also face criticism from vocal opponents from his mayoral
days, honing in on Giuliani's support for the NYPD during the racially-charged
cases of Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo and his crackdown on porn shops
in Times Square. In November 2006, civil-rights lawyer and frequent
Giuliani critic Norman Siegel pledged to "swift boat" the former Mayor
by bringing attention to these and other controversies. Critical may
also raise may raise comparisons to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who
has tended to be more critical of the police in cases resembling the
Diallo shooting.
External links
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Giuliani"
This page was last modified November 29, 2006. |
