The Full Rudy: The Man, the Mayor, the Myth
by JACK NEWFIELD
Rudy Giuliani was a C-plus Mayor who has become an A-plus myth. Since the atrocity of 9/11, Giuliani has managed to merge himself with wounded New York until the man and the metropolis--and this almost religious event--seem to be one heroic blur.
But in April 1999, in the sixth year of his term-limited mayoralty, Giuliani had only a 40 percent approval rating from the people he governed, who knew him best. A year later his divorce lawyer was savagely attacking his wife, Donna Hanover, while the Mayor was flaunting his mistress in public. He even brought his girlfriend into the Mayor's residence, Gracie Mansion, while his wife was still residing there. They don't allow this kind of behavior in trailer parks!
As a result, Giuliani's popularity plummeted again in the spring of 2000. He was almost a laughingstock when he withdrew from his Senate campaign against Hillary Clinton. The official reason given was the Mayor's diagnosis of prostate cancer, but even conservative writers like William Safire in the New York Times and Robert Bartley in the Wall Street Journal had urged him not to run in pointed columns focused on his chaotic personal life.
In May 2000 Giuliani looked like a control freak who had lost control of himself.
more...
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020617/newfield
The end of this article sums up the real Giuliani.
The man's political fortunes were in the dumps right before 9/11. He, like Bush, rode that tragedy to mythical status. For even more find and read the articles about Bernard Kerik.
Anyone pushing Giuliani for president is just as blind as a Bush supporter.
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