Giuliani, Rudolph W.

▪ American politician and lawyer

in full  Rudolph William Giuliani , byname  Rudy Giuliani 

born May 28, 1944, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.

 

 American lawyer and politician who was mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2002.

      Giuliani was educated at Manhattan College (A.B., 1965) and New York University (J.D., 1968). Beginning in 1970, he worked for the U.S. government, holding positions in the office of the U.S. attorney and in the Department of Justice. From 1977 to 1981 he practiced law privately but in 1981 returned to the Justice Department as associate attorney general. In 1983 he was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

      Early in his political career Giuliani became affiliated with the Republican Party. After being narrowly defeated in 1989, he won election as mayor in 1993, the first Republican to hold the position in two decades. He promised to reform the city's finances and to crack down on crime, and he was credited with success in both areas. He cut expenditures by, among other things, trimming the city's workforce and winning concessions from unions. The mayor encouraged the police to take an aggressive stance against even minor infractions of the law—even litterers, jaywalkers, and reckless cabdrivers were ticketed as lawbreakers. This campaign earned him the sobriquet “the Nanny of New York.” However, the crime rate fell, and the mayor claimed that New York had become a more civilized place.

      Giuliani had his detractors, however. Critics pointed out that he was taking credit for a crime decrease that was part of a nationwide trend. Further, in several incidents involving charges of police brutality, the mayor seemed to be defending officers' misconduct. To some critics the mayor's actions could be petty, as when he refused to meet visiting dignitaries if he disagreed with their policies. In a highly publicized incident in 1999, the mayor denounced a controversial exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art that included works that many observers found offensive or sacrilegious. He attempted to withdraw funding for the museum but was overruled in court. Nonetheless, the mayor generally maintained high approval ratings, and there was speculation that he would run for the U.S. Senate in 2000. However, following the disclosures that he had prostate cancer and that he was separating from his wife, Donna Hanover, Giuliani announced in May 2000 that he would not run.

      On September 11, 2001, New York City became the scene of the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States after hijackers flew commercial airplanes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, killing some 2,800 people (see September 11 attacks). Giuliani drew high praise for his handling of the situation, and there were calls that he run for a third term, even though New York City law barred a mayor from serving more than two consecutive terms. Giuliani, however, decided not to seek reelection. He received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his efforts in the wake of the attacks.

      Leadership, which Giuliani cowrote with Ken Kurson, was published in 2002. In 2007 Giuliani announced that he would seek the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2008. His platform focused on national security, and he was an early front-runner. By concentrating his campaign efforts on the Florida primary, however, he conceded nearly a month of caucuses and primaries to other candidates. He withdrew from the race in late January 2008 after finishing a distant third in Florida.

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