Originally published in the Valley News on December 16, 2007
Rock Star, Question Mark
The New York Times wrote that in July 1989 — 12 years before terrorists slammed two hijacked airliners into the Twin Towers and Giuliani became famous worldwide as the mayor who took New York City by the bullhorn.
Giuliani lost his first bid for mayor in 1989, but it was only a temporary setback. "He's always had high name recognition," Spiliotes said. "He's a very colorful personality."
He's the Brooklyn-born grandson of Italian immigrants. The kid whose parents scraped together enough money to send him to parochial school after moving to Long Island, where his father worked as a custodian. The young lawyer who wasn't the product of the Ivy League, but worked his way through Manhattan College and New York University Law School to become a federal prosecutor. The U.S. attorney who took on the mob. The mayor who sued America's leading handgun manufacturers for millions in 2000, seeking compensation for the thousands of New York City residents injured and killed by illegal gun use each year.
On Sept. 11, 2001, America saw another side of Giuliani. He wasn't just a street-smart, combative politician. He stood at Ground Zero, soot staining his anguished face. At a press conference the night of the attacks, a reporter asked Giuliani how many casualties he expected there would be. Giuliani stared into the cameras. "More than we can bear," he replied.
Time named him Person of the Year. He wrote a best seller, which sold more than a million copies. Since leaving office in 2002, he's visited 35 countries, with many foreign governments seeking his advice on security issues. Between January 2006 and May 2007, he earned $11.4 million in speaking fees, according to Newsweek.
While Giuliani has been able to cash in on his mayoral days, he didn't leave office totally unscathed. He has spent much of the presidential campaign answering questions about his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik. A New York City cop, Kerik started out as Giuliani's driver and eventually rose to the top position in the department. In 2004, Giuliani pushed the Bush administration to select Kerik for secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Kerik never made it to the Rose Garden. Kerik's candidacy was sunk by the revelation that he had had business dealings with a construction company suspected of having links to organized crime. Last year, Kerik pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, stemming partially from $165,000 in free renovations that the construction company performed on his home. Last month, in the same case, a federal grand jury indicted Kerik on tax-fraud charges.
About the same time, The New York Times reported that Giuliani "ignored a number of warning signs when, in 2000, he chose Kerik as his police commissioner, over the objections of more than half his cabinet."
Giuliani later told The Associated Press, "It was a mistake not checking him out as thoroughly as I should have."
Thirty minutes after sitting down with his cheeseburger, Giuliani reappeared outside the Corner View Restaurant in the fading afternoon sunlight. He signed more autographs and stood for more pictures. Even the Boston terrier got his picture taken with the candidate. Reporters closed in, but after one softball question about what it's like to campaign in New Hampshire, an aide tugged on Giuliani's arm. She ushered him toward the bus.
But before reaching the bus, Giuliani stopped one more time. One more picture, one more autograph.
The crowd on a late October night at Lebanon High School was larger than expected. Two janitors hustled in with more folding metal chairs.
For 30 minutes, Giuliani paced back and forth in front of the audience. Without going into specifics — candidates rarely do in their stump speeches — he promised to cut taxes, grow the economy and improve education through school choice. He jabbed at Hillary Clinton for wanting to raise taxes and increase government spending.