Rudolph W. Giuliani was born in 1944 to a working class family in Brooklyn, New York. As the grandson of Italian immigrants, Rudy was taught the value of a strong work ethic and a deep respect for America’s ideal of equal opportunity. He graduated from New York University Law School.
In 1993, Rudy became the first Republican elected Mayor of the City of New York in a generation. He focused on reducing crime, reforming welfare and improving the quality of life. Under Mayor Giuliani’s leadership, overall crime was cut by 56%, murder was cut by 66%, and New York City—once considered the crime capital of the country—became the safest large city in America according to the FBI.
When Mayor Giuliani took office, one of every seven New Yorkers was on welfare. Mayor Giuliani implemented the largest and most successful welfare-to-work initiative in the country, turning welfare offices into Job Centers, leading to the reduction of welfare rolls by 640,000, or nearly 60%, to the lowest level since 1966.
On September 11, 2001, America suffered the worst attack in its history. After surviving the fall of the Towers, Mayor Giuliani immediately began leading the recovery of his city as it faced its darkest hour. For his efforts, former first lady Nancy Reagan presented Mayor Giuliani with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Freedom Award, he was knighted by the Queen of England, and named Person of the Year by Time magazine.
His Twelve Commitments for the Campaign
1. I will keep America on offense in the Terrorists’ War on US.
2. I will end illegal immigration, secure our borders, and identify every non-citizen in our nation.
3. I will restore fiscal discipline and cut wasteful Washington spending.
4. I will cut taxes and reform the tax code.
5. I will impose accountability on Washington.
6. I will lead America towards energy independence.
7. I will give Americans more control over and access to health care with affordable and portable free-market solutions.
8. I will increase adoptions, decrease abortions, and protect the quality of life for our children.
9. I will reform the legal system and appoint strict constructionist judges.
10. I will ensure that every community in America is prepared for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
11. I will provide access to a quality education to every child in America by giving real school choice to parents.
12. I will expand America’s involvement in the global economy and strengthen our reputation around the world.
Winning the Terrorists’ War On US
Like all Americans, Rudy Giuliani prays for the success of our troops in Iraq and their safe return home. But he believes setting an artificial timetable for withdrawal from Iraq now would be a terrible mistake, because it would only embolden our enemies. Iraq is only one front in the larger war on terror, and failure there would lead to a broader and bloodier regional conflict in the near future. Building an accountable Iraq will assist in reducing the threat of terrorism.
Rudy Giuliani believes winning the Terrorists’ War on US is the great responsibility of our generation. America cannot afford to go back to the days of playing defense, with inconsistent responses to terrorist attacks, because weakness only encourages aggression. Americans want peace. We’re at war not because we want to be, but because the terrorists declared war on us—well before the attacks of September 11. Rudy understands that freedom is going to win this war of ideas. America will win the Terrorists’ War on US.
When Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal suggested that the attacks were an indication that the United States "should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause", Giuliani asserted, "There is no moral equivalent for this act. There is no justification for it. And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism. So I think not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem." Giuliani subsequently rejected the prince's $10 million donation to disaster relief of the attack.
Further reading: http://www.joinrudy2008.com/
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When most of the candidates try to avoid the issues of Iraq, Rudy firmly stands by his principle though it may jeopardise his chance of winning the election. My say is, he was the one who'd witnessed the tragedy, responsible for the aftermath, and he had done extremely well. He indeed led the New Yorkers walked through an unforgettable nightmare by expressing his confidence, competency, humanity, and substantial knowledge of crisis management. His record proves it well, that he is unbreakable.
