Rudolph “Rudy” Giuliani III was born May 28th, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Manhattan College and graduated from New York University School of Law with honors. Giuliani put himself on the political map when he prosecuted Wall Street executives Ivan Boesky and Michael Milkin for insider trading, while he served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He first ran for New York City Mayor in 1989 and lost to David Dinkins, but was able to win the election in 1994.

Giuliani is generally credited with cleaning up New York City. The NYPD grew as the crime rate declined, and he moved undesirable sex and porn shops out of Times Square and 42nd Street to make way for tourist-friendly stores, such as the Disney Store. He also pushed, unsuccessfully, for the construction of new sports stadiums in Manhattan, but was able to open minor league baseball stadiums for the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees. In addition to these accomplishments, Giuliani was praised for his leadership after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, for which he was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and was declared a Knight of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.

Some opponents of Giuliani argue that he actually wasn’t responsible for cleaning up New York City, but that the crime rate was already declining with Giuliani took office and the increase of the NYPD was enacted while David Dinkins was still mayor. Additionally, the NYPD’s new policies caught flack when citizens felt their civil liberties were being compromised, especially those of New York’s minority residents. There were numerous instances of the NYPD shooting unarmed black men during Giuliani’s administration, the most well-known probably being Amadou Diallo.

The former mayor is a possible candidate for statewide office in 2006, either challenging Hillary Clinton for the Senate, or running for Governor of New York if George Pataki chooses to not seek re-election. Giuliani previously ran for Senator in 2000 but withdrew after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He’s also rumored to be running for President in 2008, but his pro-choice ethics make him unattractive to the majority of Republican voters, especially Christians.