During the tragic events of September 11^th 2001, Giuliani was highly visible in the aftermath of the attacks by terrorists on the World Trade Center. Rudy Giuliani showed all the traits of a composed leader, appearing on television in the days after 9/11 with George W Bush to bring calm to the people of the city.

Rudolph William Louis Giuliani III was born in Brooklyn New York, on May 28 1944 to working-class parents Harold Angel Giuliani and Helen D'Avanzo, both children of Italian immigrants.Rudy’s father turned to crime when he was unable to hold down a job and after being convicted of felony assault and robbery, served time at Sing Sing prison. Once released he worked for his brother-in-law in his organized criminal loan sharking and gambling operation.

Rudy attend Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn, graduating in 1961. He went on to Manhattan College in Riverdale, The Bronx, graduating in 1965. He then attended New York University School of Law in Manhattan, graduating cum laude with a Juris Doctor in 1968.

Soon after Rudy graduated law school he married his first wife, Regina Peruggi, on October 26^th 1968, whom he had known since childhood and who was his second cousin. In 1976 the couple parted and divorced in 1982. They did not have any children.

After graduation, Giuliani clerked for United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. In 1970, Giuliani joined the Office of the US Attorney and in 1973, he was named Chief of the Narcotics Unit and rose to serve as executive US Attorney.

In 1983, Giuliani was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. 

A year earlier,1982, Rudy met his next wife Donna Hanover whom he married on April 15, 1984. They had two children, a son Andrew and a daughter Caroline.

By 1989 Giuliani was U.S. Attorney resigning as President Ronald Reagan’s administration ended. It was in the same year that he first ran for New York City Mayor and for the second time in1993. Rudy became the first Republican to win a second term as Mayor since Fiorello H. LaGuardia in 1941. In his first term as mayor, Giuliani, adopted an aggressive enforcement-deterrent strategy which involved crackdowns on relatively minor offenses such as graffiti, turnstile jumping, and aggressive "squeegeemen” in order to clean up the city. 

On December 24, 2001, Time magazine named Giuliani its Person of the Year for 2001. Time observed that, prior to 9/11, the public image of Giuliani had been that of a rigid, self-righteous, ambitious politician.

After 9/11, and perhaps owing also to a bout of prostate cancer, his public image had been reformed to that of a man who could be counted on to unite a city in the midst of its greatest crisis. 

Rudy is well known for courting media attention. He was seen at a press dinner imitating Marilyn Monroe and at a later event he appeared with Julie Andrews while spoofing the Broadway show Victor/Victoria in a skit called “Rudy/Rudia”. At an other dinner he went on stage spoofing John Travolta as a disco dancer and at another event he was flirting with real estate mogul Donald Trump, and then slaps Trump for trying to get too "familiar" with him, and then afterward he was in an exchange with Joan Rivers as she sought to make fun of his then-Senate race rival and fellow dinner attendee Hillary Clinton.  Giuliani made it onto the big screen when appeared in a cameo role in Adam Sandler's 2003 film Anger Management. In it, he uses Rob Schneider's catch phrase, "You can do it!" Another cameo appearence was made in Law and Order, with Sam Waterston.

After campaigning on behalf of George W Bush in the 2004 election, Rudy was reportedly the top choice for Secretary of Homeland Security after the resignation of Tom Ridge. The position eventually went to Michael Chertoff. Bernard Kerik was first nominated for the postion but was released after questionable practices.

For his leadership on and after September 11, Giuliani was given an honorary knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in February 2002. Also in 2002, Nancy Reagan awarded the Mayor the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award given to "those who have made monumental and lasting contributions to the cause of freedom."

After divorcing second wife Donna, Rudy went on to marry Judith Nathan on May 24, 2003 and in doing so gained a stepdaughter, Whitney.

In late 2005 there was a draft movement to get Rudy Giuliani to run for President of the United States in 2008. Finally, after much speculation he filed a "statement of candidacy" on February 2007 and confirmed on the television program Larry King Live that he would be running for president.

Early polls showed him with one of the highest levels of name recognition and support and the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination.

After months, and millions of dollars, it became clear following the caucuses and primaries in early 2008 that Rudy could not sustain his early prodominence in the race for the White House and so after losing in Florida he made the decision to drop out of the running for President and in turn endorsed senator John McCain on January 31st 2008.

ABB