Rudy Giuliani could have left his office next Monday as one of New York’s least successful mayors. His second and constitutionally final term of office had been mired in scandal and dissatisfaction among voters. As it is, the World Trade bombings transformed his reputation to such an extent that Giuliani is quitting on a wave of popularity, which has been reflected by Time magazine’s choosing him as its man of the year.
Republican Giuliani’s domination of the traditionally Democrat New York came unstuck on both at political and personal level. His highly publicized and acrimonious divorce did little to help a reputation that was already on the skids because of some of his policies. Principally, New Yorkers were becoming uneasy about their mayor’s zero-tolerance crime policies. Though the idea of prosecuting any felon for the smallest misdemeanor initially appealed to inhabitants of a city with a rapidly worsening crime record, the results left them uneasy.
For sure, crime fell, but it was seen that it was the racial minorities, especially black New Yorkers, who were making up the majority of those prosecuted. This increased racial tensions. The murder of an entirely innocent and unarmed black man in a hail of police bullets shocked New Yorkers as it did the rest of the world. Evidence, some of it on video, demonstrated that racial bigots within the police service were playing out their hatreds behind the zero-tolerance policy.
As he became increasingly beleaguered, Giuliani began to lose the plot. Never a man to suffer fools gladly, he became extremely irascible and rude. Friends put this unwise behavior down to both an emergent heart condition and his dropping out of the fight with Hillary Clinton to represent New York in the US senate. Up until this fall, the man who was once tipped as a credible Republican candidate for the White House made an unedifying and often embarrassing political spectacle.
Then came Sept. 11. While most New Yorkers were still stunned, Giuliani snapped into impressive action. He seemed to be everywhere, working tirelessly to make sure that no effort was being spared, both to rescue anyone still alive and trapped in the buildings and to bring comfort to those who had escaped or were bereaved.
Some might argue that it was the tough spirit of New Yorkers that actually drove the extraordinary campaign to save and comfort and undertake clear up. However, it was Giuliani whose face was always before the cameras. The sound bites he delivered captured the feelings of his fellow New Yorkers, providing a rallying point for them which helped them overcome the immense trauma they had suffered.
Time may show that Giuliani merely clambered aboard a huge passing wave and rode it adroitly. But no one can deny that at a time when New Yorkers needed a single firm voice, to rally their spirits and help them confront an unimagined horror, Giuliani provided that voice. Even if his health were up to it, his leadership of New York in its hour of shocking disaster is unlikely to carry him to the White House. But at least, it has redeemed what would otherwise have been a moderate two terms as mayor of America’s greatest city.
