Rudy Giuliani
From open-encyclopedia.com - the free encyclopedia.
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani III, KBE (born May 28, 1944) served as the Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2001.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Giuliani attended Manhattan College and graduated from New York University School of Law with honors.
Giuliani first gained national prominence as the federal U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In that position he prosecuted numerous high-profile cases, including indictments of leading Wall Street figures Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken for insider trading. Giuliani attracted some criticism for arranging very public arrests of people, then dropping charges for lack of evidence instead of going to trial.
Giuliani was subsequently appointed the third-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice. He successfully argued on behalf of the U.S. government, in a high-profile case, that there was "no political repression" in Haiti under President Jean-Claude Duvalier, aka "Baby Doc".
Giuliani first ran as the Republican candidate for mayor in 1989 but he lost the contest to succeed Ed Koch to Democrat David Dinkins. In 1993 he successfully ran against incumbent Dinkins in an election that divided the city, primarily on racial lines (especially after the intervention on Dinkins' behalf of President Bill Clinton).
In his first term as mayor, Giuliani pursued an aggressive and very public policing policy. Although detractors note that the crime rate was already steadily declining when Giuliani entered office, due largely to the economic boom of the Clinton years, Giuliani is often credited with 'cleaning up' New York City. His focus on this issue in press conferences and other public events, combined with the declining crime rate, convinced the media and the public that New York city was no longer a crime-infested metropolis.
However, Giuliani's aggressive tactics, described by former Mayor Dinkins as assuming that the ends justify the means (interview with CourtTV), required vastly more arrests when criminal descriptions were vague. Many argue that the NYPD's new policies curtailed the civil liberties of innocent citizens, particularly minorities. (He was sued over 2 dozen times on First Amendment issues and lost each case.) Even the Deputy Mayor, Rudy Washington, was subjected to harassment by NYPD. Of numerous instances of unarmed black men killed or brutalized by NYPD under the Giuliani administration, the best-known are the shooting of Amadou Diallo and the assault of Abner Louima.
Giuliani pursued similarly aggressive real estate policies. The Times Square redevelopment project saw Times Square transformed from a run-down center for businesses ranging from tourist attractions to peep shows to a high-price district filled with family-oriented stores and theaters, including the MTV studios and a massive Disney store and theater. Throughout his term, Giuliani pursued the construction of new sports stadiums in Manhattan, a goal at 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.
Giuliani, after being elected, 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.
He ran an aborted campaign for U.S. Senate in 2000 against Hillary Rodham Clinton, withdrawing because of prostate cancer and the fallout from his relationship with Judith Nathan (he was married at the time to Donna Hanover, but they later divorced, and in late 2002 he became engaged to marry Nathan). He and Hanover have one son and one daughter. He married Nathan in May 2003.
Since the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center, Giuliani has been widely hailed for his calm and effective leadership in the crisis. For this, he was named TIME magazine's Person of the Year for 2001 and was given an honorary knighthood by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on February 13, 2002, entitling him to style himself "Rudolph Giuliani KBE".
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.
Giuliani is often mentioned as a potential challenger to Senator Clinton in the 2006 Senate race in New York. He is also widely reported to be considering a race for the Presidency in 2008. One obstacle to such a national campaign would be his support for reproductive rights. The vast majority of Republican voters and officeholders, along with some Democrats, support more restrictions on abortion than are currently permitted under the Roe v. Wade decision. Members of the Christian right bloc, which exerts considerable influence in the Republican Party, have already announced their intention to oppose Giuliani or any other pro-choice candidate. [1] Even so, early 2008 Presidential polls show him with one of the highest levels of name recognition and support.
Quotes
- "We only see the oppressive side of authority. Maybe it comes out of our history and our background. What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be. Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it."
| Preceded by David Dinkins | Mayors of New York City | Succeeded by Michael Bloomberg |
Rudy Giuliani started his political life as a Democrat, before registering as an Independent. Afterward, he finally decided on being a Republican.
See Also
de:Rudolph Giuliani it:Rudolph Giuliani pl:Rudolph Giuliani zh:鲁道夫·朱利安尼
