Rudy Giuliani Second Cousin Regina Peruggi, Rudy Giuliani's father was a plumber and bartender who had been arrested for petty crimes before marriage straightened him out. His mother was a bookkeeper who had a keen interest in the news, reading up to half a dozen newspapers daily. As a boy, young Giuliani considered becoming a priest, but instead studied law.
He first gained national prominence as a U.S. Attorney, prosecuting the insider trading trials of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken and other high-profile cases. In one of his most infamous assignments, Giuliani argued in an immigration case -- preposterously but successfully -- that repression in Haiti "simply does not exist", and that there had been "no political repression" in Haiti under President Jean-Claude Duvalier.
As U.S. Attorney, he oversaw more than 4,000 convictions, enabling him to run for mayor as the candidate who'd be "tough on crime". He lost the 1989 mayoral election to David Dinkins by a narrow margin, but defeated him in 1993, and as mayor immediately pursued aggressive policies against the kind of street crime New York had become famous for. Giuliani backed the police ferociously, and in what had been a crime-infested metropolis, it became reasonably safe to ride the subway or stroll city parks. Fewer tourists returned to their hometowns with tales of being mugged, and more left with pleasant memories.
Of course, police crackdowns have certain distasteful side effects, and blacks and other minorities often spoke of feeling harassed, "presumed guilty". Many complained that Giuliani's gung-ho support for the police department led to an atmosphere where troubled cops knew they could get away with almost anything. Under Giuliani's administration, some of the city's widely-reported cases of police brutality included the death of Amadou Diallo, a black, unarmed man walking near his apartment who was shot 19 times by four plainclothes cops, and the Duvalier-esque beating and plunger-rape of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant. When a 16-year-old black teenager was shot and wounded by police as he was walking home from the city's "midnight basketball" games (a program designed to keep kids out of trouble), Giuliani's public response was that the boy "should have been home at that hour".
Street artists and political protesters also complained of police harassment. Almost 70,000 people filed lawsuits against New York Police during Giuliani's two terms as mayor, claiming they were strip-searched for minor offences like jaywalking and fare-dodging. Giuliani's zero-tolerance for scum saw the traditional porn shops and lap dancers of Times Square redeveloped away, and replaced by family-friendly stores and theaters, including the MTV studios and an enormous Disney store and cinema. While championing a voucher system as an alternative to public education, Giuliani described New York's schools as "dysfunctional", "just plain terrible", and said "the whole system should be blown up".
When the World Trade Center was hit by hijacked jets on September 11, Giuliani rushed to Ground Zero -- because, even after the World Trade Center was first struck by terrorists in 1993, he had placed the city's terrorist response center inside the WTC. That decision undoubtedly cost lives on 9/11, but Giuliani's take-charge and take-no-crap demeanor was exactly what most New Yorkers wanted in the aftermath of disaster, and across the nation, millions saw Giuliani's stalwart response as genuine leadership. He was named Time's Person of the Year for 2001, dubbed "America's Mayor" by the media, and given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.
In October 2001, as anthrax-by-mail subjected New York to further drama, Giuliani publicly urged all New Yorkers to get flu shots. Flu symptoms are similar to early anthrax symptoms, so Giuliani's reasoning was that minimizing the flu would lead to less confusion and less public panic. But he neglected to run the idea past health experts, who pointed out that there's nowhere near enough flu vaccine for everyone in New York.
Giuliani's first marriage was to his second cousin, Regina Peruggi. They were married for 14 years, before Giuliani had their marriage annulled by the Catholic church. His second marriage was to Donna Hanover, a reporter and sometimes soap-opera actress. Havover was the city's First Lady while Giuliani was mayor, but she stayed farther and farther out of the public spotlight as Giuliani was widely whispered to be swiving his press secretary, Cristyne Lategano. After Lategano left City Hall, Giuliani took up with a divorced nurse, Judith Nathan, paying her $10,000 per month as his speechwriter. Never one for subtlety, Giuliani and Nathan marched side-by-side in the St. Patrick's Day parade, where the city's mayor traditionally walks with his wife.
Term limits prevented Giuliani from seeking a third term as mayor in 2001. He was expected to run for the Senate against Hillary Clinton, but he backed out of the race to undergo prostate surgery. And also, perhaps not coincidentally, because his marital infidelities were all over the newspapers around that time. Shortly after Giuliani left office, he filed for divorce, accusing Hanover of "cruel and inhuman treatment." In her response, Hanover blamed the ex-mayor's "open and notorious adultery." When their divorce was finalized, she got a million dollars a year in alimony. In May of 2003, Giuliani returned to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York's mayor, for a lavish ceremony to marry his former paramour, Judith Nathan. The city's new mayor, Michael Bloomberg, officiated.
He first gained national prominence as a U.S. Attorney, prosecuting the insider trading trials of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken and other high-profile cases. In one of his most infamous assignments, Giuliani argued in an immigration case -- preposterously but successfully -- that repression in Haiti "simply does not exist", and that there had been "no political repression" in Haiti under President Jean-Claude Duvalier.
As U.S. Attorney, he oversaw more than 4,000 convictions, enabling him to run for mayor as the candidate who'd be "tough on crime". He lost the 1989 mayoral election to David Dinkins by a narrow margin, but defeated him in 1993, and as mayor immediately pursued aggressive policies against the kind of street crime New York had become famous for. Giuliani backed the police ferociously, and in what had been a crime-infested metropolis, it became reasonably safe to ride the subway or stroll city parks. Fewer tourists returned to their hometowns with tales of being mugged, and more left with pleasant memories.
Of course, police crackdowns have certain distasteful side effects, and blacks and other minorities often spoke of feeling harassed, "presumed guilty". Many complained that Giuliani's gung-ho support for the police department led to an atmosphere where troubled cops knew they could get away with almost anything. Under Giuliani's administration, some of the city's widely-reported cases of police brutality included the death of Amadou Diallo, a black, unarmed man walking near his apartment who was shot 19 times by four plainclothes cops, and the Duvalier-esque beating and plunger-rape of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant. When a 16-year-old black teenager was shot and wounded by police as he was walking home from the city's "midnight basketball" games (a program designed to keep kids out of trouble), Giuliani's public response was that the boy "should have been home at that hour".
Street artists and political protesters also complained of police harassment. Almost 70,000 people filed lawsuits against New York Police during Giuliani's two terms as mayor, claiming they were strip-searched for minor offences like jaywalking and fare-dodging. Giuliani's zero-tolerance for scum saw the traditional porn shops and lap dancers of Times Square redeveloped away, and replaced by family-friendly stores and theaters, including the MTV studios and an enormous Disney store and cinema. While championing a voucher system as an alternative to public education, Giuliani described New York's schools as "dysfunctional", "just plain terrible", and said "the whole system should be blown up".
When the World Trade Center was hit by hijacked jets on September 11, Giuliani rushed to Ground Zero -- because, even after the World Trade Center was first struck by terrorists in 1993, he had placed the city's terrorist response center inside the WTC. That decision undoubtedly cost lives on 9/11, but Giuliani's take-charge and take-no-crap demeanor was exactly what most New Yorkers wanted in the aftermath of disaster, and across the nation, millions saw Giuliani's stalwart response as genuine leadership. He was named Time's Person of the Year for 2001, dubbed "America's Mayor" by the media, and given an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.
In October 2001, as anthrax-by-mail subjected New York to further drama, Giuliani publicly urged all New Yorkers to get flu shots. Flu symptoms are similar to early anthrax symptoms, so Giuliani's reasoning was that minimizing the flu would lead to less confusion and less public panic. But he neglected to run the idea past health experts, who pointed out that there's nowhere near enough flu vaccine for everyone in New York.
Giuliani's first marriage was to his second cousin, Regina Peruggi. They were married for 14 years, before Giuliani had their marriage annulled by the Catholic church. His second marriage was to Donna Hanover, a reporter and sometimes soap-opera actress. Havover was the city's First Lady while Giuliani was mayor, but she stayed farther and farther out of the public spotlight as Giuliani was widely whispered to be swiving his press secretary, Cristyne Lategano. After Lategano left City Hall, Giuliani took up with a divorced nurse, Judith Nathan, paying her $10,000 per month as his speechwriter. Never one for subtlety, Giuliani and Nathan marched side-by-side in the St. Patrick's Day parade, where the city's mayor traditionally walks with his wife.
Term limits prevented Giuliani from seeking a third term as mayor in 2001. He was expected to run for the Senate against Hillary Clinton, but he backed out of the race to undergo prostate surgery. And also, perhaps not coincidentally, because his marital infidelities were all over the newspapers around that time. Shortly after Giuliani left office, he filed for divorce, accusing Hanover of "cruel and inhuman treatment." In her response, Hanover blamed the ex-mayor's "open and notorious adultery." When their divorce was finalized, she got a million dollars a year in alimony. In May of 2003, Giuliani returned to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York's mayor, for a lavish ceremony to marry his former paramour, Judith Nathan. The city's new mayor, Michael Bloomberg, officiated.
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