Giuliani presents a living portrait of one of the most prominent and controversial politicians of our era in the words of those who know him best. Featuring more than forty interviews with longtime political associates, teachers, protégées, and friends, as well as his opponents, critics, and other astute political observers, it offers deep and revealing insights into the political and personal evolution of America's most famous ex-mayor.

Former Pennsylvania governor Dick Thornburgh recalls Giuliani's days as the number-three man at the Justice Department and explains why Rudy may have wanted to be "demoted" to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

Was Giuliani a hard-nosed prosecutor, a shameless self-promoter, or both? Did his political ambition influence his prosecutorial decisions? Assistant U.S. attorneys who worked under Giuliani discuss his most controversial cases, along with a number of defendants, their attorneys, and key witnesses.

Former New York mayors David Dinkins and Edward Koch join a host of prominent city politicians, attorneys, and community activists to analyze and comment on Giuliani's eight years as mayor. They examine his stern and innovative approaches to crime prevention; tough policies on welfare reform; contentious relationships with minorities and city employees; and his handling of the police-brutality case involving the abuse of Abner Louima and the shootings of Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond.

From divorce lawyer Raoul Felder to former mayoral candidate Ruth Messinger, everyone in New York seems to have an opinion about Rudolph Giuliani's personal life. As a Roman Catholic who had his first marriage (to his second cousin) annulled and whose second marriage ended in a divorce punctuated with tawdry tabloid headlines, could Giuliani gain the support of religious conservatives for a national campaign?

Complete with an in-depth exploration of Rudy's response to the September 11th terrorist attacks, Giuliani is must reading for devotees of politics and anyone interested in Rudolph Giuliani as a possible presidential contender.

"Let's give Rudy credit: he knew that not just the people of the City of New York were going to watch his every move and listen to his every word, but that the entire world was going to be looking to him for guidance, for updates, for information, and Rudy rose to the occasion. Rudy is a seasoned politician with thirty years of law enforcement training to fall back on; he had all of his connections with the Justice Department, with the Police Department, with the law enforcement community, so he was a good mayor to have in place at the time. You were not dealing with just an act of trauma or a terrible act of natural devastation; this was an intentional act of criminal conduct, and he understood not only about preserving the crime scene but doing the rescue operation. He understood that more than other mayors would have, even if they were more popular. Rudy had command of that naturally, based on his experience, and that gave comfort to the world—that the person in charge of New York was someone who had brought the Mafia to its knees; who had taken on big business; who was not going to be intimidated. He rose to the occasion and a lot of people who hated him before 9/11 are among his biggest fans now."
—Benjamin Brafman, partner, Brafman Associates, PC, from Giuliani

Giuliani

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

I'm never going to have a better job. -Rudy Giuliani, at the conclusion of his final State of the City address, January 8, 2001

Rudolph William Louis Giuliani-"Rudy" to friend and foe alike-had a lot on his mind as he entered the City Council Chamber at City Hall on that January day to deliver his final State of the City address. The last year had not been a good one. On Thursday, April 27, 2000, the penultimate year of his final term as mayor of New York City as dictated by term limits, Rudy had stunned New Yorkers by disclosing that he was engaged in the fight of his life, having been diagnosed only the day before with prostate cancer, the disease that had killed his father nineteen years earlier.

Then, on May 10, following several years of rumors about friction in his marriage of sixteen years to his second wife, television personality and actress Donna Hanover, and one week after a photograph of him strolling with his new love, Judith Nathan, appeared in the New York Post, Rudy announced, without informing Donna, that they were separating. That revelation would lead to the public airing of many of the messy details of their troubled union.

And there was more to come: on May 19, Rudy, who had announced his intention to run for the Senate seat being vacated by the veteran Democrat, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, pitting him against First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic Party's declared candidate, further stunned New Yorkers by announcing that he was dropping out of the race. It was a terrible decision for Rudy to have to make. While he had seemed almost ambivalent about the race prior to the disclosure of his illness-infuriating some of his closest advisers, who thought he could have deflected attention from his marital mess by trouncing Hillary-Rudy told a standing-room-only press briefing at City Hall simply, "This is not the right time for me to run for office. If it were six months ago or it were a year from now, maybe it would be different. But it isn't different and that's the way life is." By year's end, the lame-duck mayor's legacy, despite the many achievements of his first term, was in question. His heroism on September 11 lay months ahead. Now he was being castigated for igniting the very racial strife he had pledged to eradicate, and his approval rating had slid precipitously, reflecting the electorate's dissatisfaction.

* * *

Stanley Friedman, former Democratic Party leader, Bronx, New York; prosecuted in 1986 by then U.S. attorney Rudolph Giuliani He was a dead-duck mayor before 9/11. It was cumulative; his reputation had finally caught up to him and he was just not the right person for the job anymore.

Raoul Felder, attorney practicing matrimonial and family law at Raoul Lionel Felder P.C., in New York City; represented Rudolph Giuliani in his divorce from Donna Hanover People get tired of your face after a while. Look at Churchill-after winning a war, the Man of the Century was voted out of office. I don't think he [Giuliani] was at a disastrous level, but he had fallen a lot, and there was complacency. But he was still an important enough figure because he had the book contracts [for Leadership, with Ken Kurson, 2002; and a memoir, which was scheduled for publication in September 2005] before 9/11-they were healthy contracts-so he was not such a has-been, not a bit of a has-been, even.

Fran Reiter, New York State chair, Liberal Party; deputy campaign manager for operations, Rudolph Giuliani's second mayoral campaign; deputy mayor, administration of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (first term); campaign manager, Giuliani's third campaign The Rudy Giuliani who took office that second term was a very different person than the one I saw towards the end of the campaign, where term limits, and the prospect of term limits, weighed very heavily on him and I didn't see a lot of joy in Rudy when he got reelected. I mean, he got reelected by this huge margin: he's not just a Republican winning election again; he wins by sixteen points! He should have been ecstatic. He wasn't, and I have to believe it was from two things: one, it was the beginning of the end, and the truth is, it's not necessarily that he would have run for a third term if he could have, but just the prospect of being able to run and not being viewed as a lame duck. Psychologically, it makes for a very different approach to governing. This weighed very, very heavily on him and influenced how he governed in that second term. He seemed to lose his passion for the big projects. He got nitpicky.

Benjamin Brafman, attorney; represented Simon Berger, prosecuted in 1986 by Rudolph Giuliani Rudy was not at a good place in his personal or public life: he was being criticized throughout the city, by various groups, as being either wrong on certain issues, or too tough, or not sympathetic. And his personal life was in the tabloids on a daily basis and he had been personally embarrassed.

Herman Badillo, candidate for comptroller on the Giuliani fusion ticket, 1993; fiscal monitor, New York City public schools, during the Giuliani administration; chairman, City University of New York board of trustees He was in a decline because of relations with Donna. People didn't think that he had behaved properly then: as a matter of courtesy, you go and talk to your wife and say, "I want a divorce." You don't have a press conference to announce it. And you don't parade your girlfriend around town. That, certainly, people felt, was inexcusable behavior. That, I think, was the thing that brought him down [in the public's estimation].

Ruth Messinger, borough president of Manhattan, 1990-1997;

defeated Democratic Party candidate against incumbent mayor Rudolph Giuliani, 1997 The most revolting thing about this man is the way in which he divorced his wife. I'm sure the health thing was serious, but this is not a man who lets things stand in his way to get what he wants. I think that he was given information that he would have a hard time [running for the Senate against Hillary Clinton].

* * *

Not one to be deterred, though, the mayor launched into his final State of the City address with his customary oratorical flair, displaying anger at one moment, humor the next. Speaking extemporaneously as he moved back and forth to more fully connect with his audience, Rudy Giuliani was, as he would state the following year in his memoir, Leadership, "in full organizational mode," outlining his plan to re-create the Office of Emergency Management and the Administration for Children's Services as "permanent freestanding agencies" and to "merge the Human Resources Administration and the Department of Education, to further the goal of turning HRA into an employment agency."

John O'Leary, formerly Brother Aloysius Kevin, one of Rudolph Giuliani's teachers at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, 1958-1961 Emotionally, his thoughts are very positive. I think it has as much to do with the personality he has genetically as any of his religious training. All that training was important but was absorbed into that kind of straightforward, positive personal psychology he has. He tends to look on the bright side of things and doesn't get down and think about all the things that won't work; he's not that kind of person. He's upbeat, and this is the Rudy I knew. It's not just his religious convictions and his strength of character, but his personality; he has a very positive personality.

Herman Badillo At these State of the City things, he spoke extemporaneously; he didn't have any notes or any power points [PowerPoint presentations] or anything like that, which made him very effective because he'd just get up and talk about whatever the issues were-and then point out how he felt about being mayor.

Raoul Felder I was at all the State of the City speeches. He went on without notes. At the first one after he was reelected, he introduced the commissioners and someone thought he had a thing in his ear-that someone was prompting him, so they asked him later, "How did you do that for an hour and a half or two hours?" He said, "I treated it as if I was making a summation to a jury and I had all the points in my head. And once you have that, it's simple."

Mark Green, public advocate, City of New York, 1994-2001; Democratic Party mayoral candidate, 2001 I attended every one of his State of the City addresses and they were tours de force. To watch him speak an eighty-minute State of the City address was exhausting but impressive. But I learned something from him: while most politicians in that situation would read a speech for twenty or thirty minutes, he would speak into a mike, without a podium, a prompter, or notes, for eighty minutes. And so when I announced for mayor, or when I now give a speech of consequence, I try to write it and learn it in my head and not read it, literally.

* * *

As he spoke, the mayor gathered steam, exclaiming at one point, "We should be ashamed that we don't have the political courage to take on the unions, the special interests, and everything else." Then, as if to affirm his place in history despite his low approval rating, he displayed two contrasting blowups of Time magazine covers, published a decade apart. The first one, from1990, bore the legend "The Rotting of the Big Apple," while the second, dated January 1, 2000, featured a photograph of the massive millennium Times Square celebration that had taken place only days earlier in a safer, cleaner, more economically viable New York City.

His proud, defiant expression giving way to wistful reflection, the always politically ambitious and often contentious Rudy Giuliani confided to the several hundred administration workers who had crowded into the Council Chamber to hear his final State of the City address, "I'm never going to have a better job."

Richard Thornburgh, assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1988-1991, and colleague of Rudolph Giuliani's, 1975-1977 His passion for the city was pretty evident [going back to the 1970s, when Thornburgh served with Giuliani in the Department of Justice]. In addition to his competence as a chief magistrate, he had kind of a cheerleader quality to him that came through when he talked about New York.

Frank Luntz, selected by Rudolph Giuliani as pollster for his second and third mayoral campaigns, in 1993 and 1997 I met him for the first time when I was pitching him, when I wanted to do business for him. I was surprised at how he really, truly loved New York City. He believed that New York was worth fighting for.

Fred Siegel, adviser to the mayoral campaign of Rudolph Giuliani, 1993; author, The Prince of the City, 2005 He loved the job; he likes doing things and accomplishing things as opposed to simply filling out his rsum. He submerged his own enormous ego into the well-being of the city.

Mark Green He was sincere that day. And of course he would be emotional in his last State of the City, when, by law, he couldn't serve any longer and he had just withdrawn from a national election because of illness. I think he's a sincere bully and I agree that many other times he thought that bullying was the way to get things done. To say this in 1994 would have been regarded as way too personal an analysis; to say it in 2005 is simply to say what now everyone believes, even his closest friends. I guess in the law a judge would stipulate that he's a bully and you'd have to figure out whether you like it or not.

Stanley Friedman It's the best job that anybody can have because he knows in his heart of hearts that he can make positive changes for eight million people in the City of New York. They want it because of the challenge, because of the ego, because of the arrogance, because of the drive.

Fran Reiter It's generally viewed that had 9/11 not happened, he would have limped out of office still being remembered for this unbelievable first term, which was a metamorphosis, creating a metamorphosis in the way New York was governed. But, in fact, the second term was pretty lackluster, and you see him overreacting or under-reacting to very public issues. What do I think happened? His personal life was in total upheaval-the kids were at the most vulnerable age; his marriage was a disaster-this was his second marriage, not his first; this is a very religious guy, this is a Catholic. These were important issues to him from a religious standpoint. He got through the '97 campaign and, frankly, I think he was depressed. I have no proof of that, but my sense is that he was psychologically somewhere else.

Herman Badillo He was pretty much close to tears, but he was very emotional generally. I'm sure he would have loved to stay as mayor, if he could have, for another three or four terms.

Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, commissioner, New York City Department of Personnel; commissioner, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, 1996-1997; commissioner/ administrator, Human Resources Administration, 1997-1998 Then you add to that the fact that now that he may be ready for a private life, he doesn't have a private life anymore; he's met somebody-clearly he's somebody who likes ladies-and then he finds out he has cancer in the most vulnerable place that a man can have a cancer. Something had knocked the wind out of him. I think the fact that he knew that he couldn't be reelected certainly mattered and counted. I don't think he was entirely sure what else he wanted to do. It is very difficult after you're mayor of the City of New York to go to Albany and be governor. And going back into private practice didn't seem like the most thrilling thing on earth. It was sort of like: what do I do now?

Benjamin Brafman Rudy was known as a tough guy. There is a softer, kinder, gentler Rudy Giuliani today. It's a natural evolvement for someone who has gone through an upheaval in their personal life, is in a new relationship in which he appears to be happy, and is going through cancer. That is a defining moment-my wife and I went through breast cancer together and it was a defining moment for us-and it gives you a different perspective on life.

Raoul Felder You don't have to get past the cancer; he was in the throes of that treatment and he isn't the kind of guy who wants to give half an effort to anything. He was not in good shape physically. Not a lot of people know about it, but he got two kinds of treatment, the seeds and the radioactive. I knew two other people who went through the same thing and they were literally out of action-they'd come in a couple of mornings a week. He could not run the city and do both; it was just physically impossible. I don't think he ever had a question about beating it.

Ed Koch, mayor, City of New York, 1978-1989 His health was very important to him; I don't think there was anything false about his comments at the time. He would have been very difficult as an opponent. Never, ever underestimate him.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Giulianiby Deborah Hart Strober Gerald S. Strober Copyright © 2007 by Deborah Hart Strober. Excerpted by permission.
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