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Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America's Mayor
A New Yorker Best Book of the Year
What happened to Rudy Giuliani?
Andrew Kirtzman, who has been following Giuliani since the 1990s, answers that question in this “masterful and engrossing” ( The Guardian ) biography that “c uts through the myth and caricature that has too often defined Giuliani” ( Los Angeles Times ).
Rudy Giuliani was hailed after 9/11 as “America’s Mayor,” a national hero who, at the time, was more widely admired than the pope. He was brilliant, accomplished—and complicated. He conflated politics with morality, made reckless personal choices, and engaged in self-destructive behavior. A series of disastrous decisions and cynical compromises, coupled with his need for power, money, and attention gradually ruined his reputation, cost him political support, and ultimately damaged the country.
Kirtzman, who was with Giuliani at the World Trade Center on 9/11, conducted hundreds of interviews to give us an insightful portrait of this polarizing figure from the beginning of his rise to his high-profile role as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Giuliani was a celebrated prosecutor, a transformative New York City mayor, and a contender for the presidency. But by the end of the Trump presidency, he was reviled and ridiculed after a series of embarrassing errors and misjudgments. He was a significant figure in both of Trump’s impeachments and ended up widely ostracized, facing both legal jeopardy and financial ruin.
This is the “lively new biography” ( The New Yorker ) of how it all began and how it came crashing down.
What happened to Rudy Giuliani?
Andrew Kirtzman, who has been following Giuliani since the 1990s, answers that question in this “masterful and engrossing” ( The Guardian ) biography that “c uts through the myth and caricature that has too often defined Giuliani” ( Los Angeles Times ).
Rudy Giuliani was hailed after 9/11 as “America’s Mayor,” a national hero who, at the time, was more widely admired than the pope. He was brilliant, accomplished—and complicated. He conflated politics with morality, made reckless personal choices, and engaged in self-destructive behavior. A series of disastrous decisions and cynical compromises, coupled with his need for power, money, and attention gradually ruined his reputation, cost him political support, and ultimately damaged the country.
Kirtzman, who was with Giuliani at the World Trade Center on 9/11, conducted hundreds of interviews to give us an insightful portrait of this polarizing figure from the beginning of his rise to his high-profile role as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer. Giuliani was a celebrated prosecutor, a transformative New York City mayor, and a contender for the presidency. But by the end of the Trump presidency, he was reviled and ridiculed after a series of embarrassing errors and misjudgments. He was a significant figure in both of Trump’s impeachments and ended up widely ostracized, facing both legal jeopardy and financial ruin.
This is the “lively new biography” ( The New Yorker ) of how it all began and how it came crashing down.
458 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2022
89 people are currently reading
439 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Kirtzman
7 books15 followersAndrew Kirtzman has covered Rudolph W. Giuliani for three decades as a political reporter for print and television. He began as a City Hall reporter and then wrote what is considered a definitive book about Giuliani’s mayoralty. He was with Giuliani on the morning of September 11th and chronicled their experience together. He has covered more than a dozen national political campaigns and hosted two of New York’s most widely watched political shows, winning multiple Emmy Awards. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, and other publications, and authored a book about the Bernie Madoff scandal. He appears regularly on CNN and MSNBC to discuss politics and government.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
October 20, 2022
What happened to Rudy Giuliani?
Nothing. Rudy Giuliani is and has always been a terrible person.
This book was a fast and engrossing read. For some people the story of Rudy Giuliani is a tragedy but for me it's pure comedy.
Karma is real.
My grandmother always said God don't like ugly. And Rudy Giuliani has a ugly soul. He's mean, racist and power hungry. I never understood why people(the media) called him America's Mayor. He wasn't Black and Brown people's mayor. To even me, a Black person living all the way down in Kentucky, I knew him as Mayor Stop and Frisk. Rudy Giuliani has done more damage to the relationship between Black people and the police nationwide than probably any other elected official.
He's a laughingstock, criminal and traitor. But this was always the how things were going to turn out for him. I laughed so many times while I was reading this book but I understand that alot of people will find this book incredibly sad. The downfall of powerful people is always polarizing.
Giuliani is essential reading if you want to understand Trumpworld and the man who inspired a lot of Trump's actions.
I highly recommend Giuliani...the book not the man.
Nothing. Rudy Giuliani is and has always been a terrible person.
This book was a fast and engrossing read. For some people the story of Rudy Giuliani is a tragedy but for me it's pure comedy.
Karma is real.
My grandmother always said God don't like ugly. And Rudy Giuliani has a ugly soul. He's mean, racist and power hungry. I never understood why people(the media) called him America's Mayor. He wasn't Black and Brown people's mayor. To even me, a Black person living all the way down in Kentucky, I knew him as Mayor Stop and Frisk. Rudy Giuliani has done more damage to the relationship between Black people and the police nationwide than probably any other elected official.
He's a laughingstock, criminal and traitor. But this was always the how things were going to turn out for him. I laughed so many times while I was reading this book but I understand that alot of people will find this book incredibly sad. The downfall of powerful people is always polarizing.
Giuliani is essential reading if you want to understand Trumpworld and the man who inspired a lot of Trump's actions.
I highly recommend Giuliani...the book not the man.
September 22, 2022
I was 15 when the Twin Towers fell, so 9/11 was the seminal event of my political coming of age. The national unity and strong leadership on display in the immediate aftermath of the attacks seem quaint given what we know about what followed: endless wars, an economic collapse, a gradual and then sudden slide into autocracy, and a political system-and society- ripping apart from the seams.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, no figure was more prominent than Mayor Rudy Giuliani. To read Giuliani by Andrew Kitrzman is to spend hours trying to answer the question many of us have been asking ourselves about the former mayor for years: What happened?
He was once a tough-talking US Attorney who took on the mafia and a whirlwind of a mayor who tackled the high 1990s New York City crime rates. But even that myth overlooked questionable tactics as a prosecutor and a mayoral tenure defined by racial profiling- and an astonishing insensitivity toward an unarmed man killed by NYPD- that makes the modern reader cringe. His post-attack PR machine was so strong that for years the zeitgeist overlooked just how ill-equipped the city was for such an attack under his leadership.
The Rudy Giuliani of the early 2000s was a lion with the political Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval sought by the White House, foreign leaders and corporate America. Even if we allow that the full story is more complicated than the myth, the fall has been nothing short of spectacular. Twenty years later, the US Attorney’s Office he once managed is investigating him and the bars of New York and DC have stripped his license.
Kirtzman- who covered Giuliani at City Hall and was with him on 9/11- describes two Rudys: moral crusader and ambitious perfectionist juxtaposed against a cruel Machiavel who managed “to wrap his problematic acts in a cloak of righteousness.” If this tension between angels and demons exists in us all, it stands to reason that the tension would be exaggerated for a larger-than-life force on the biggest world stages.
Kirtzman masterfully tells a tragic tale of the seductive allures of power and fortune. Giuliani became accustomed to a life of luxury after the heads of state, political leaders and the media fawned over him while the rubble still burned in New York. He decided to cash in on this fame by representing questionable characters, foreign governments and companies (including Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid epidemic).
There wasn’t a straight line between these relatively minor errors in political judgment and the more colossal existential threats to American democracy (his roles in the Ukraine scandal and election denialism). It was a series of moral compromises, which over time eroded the morality of the Good Rudy altogether.
In an infamous interview, he once had choice words to describe how little he cared about his legacy. Giuliani the moralist did not become Giuliani the nihilist overnight. As I read the final chapters of the book and its epilogue, I couldn’t help but think of a quotation from CS Lewis:
"the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts"
Kirtzman’s book, which I highly recommend, is more compelling when read as a Greek tragedy than a piece of American history.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, no figure was more prominent than Mayor Rudy Giuliani. To read Giuliani by Andrew Kitrzman is to spend hours trying to answer the question many of us have been asking ourselves about the former mayor for years: What happened?
He was once a tough-talking US Attorney who took on the mafia and a whirlwind of a mayor who tackled the high 1990s New York City crime rates. But even that myth overlooked questionable tactics as a prosecutor and a mayoral tenure defined by racial profiling- and an astonishing insensitivity toward an unarmed man killed by NYPD- that makes the modern reader cringe. His post-attack PR machine was so strong that for years the zeitgeist overlooked just how ill-equipped the city was for such an attack under his leadership.
The Rudy Giuliani of the early 2000s was a lion with the political Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval sought by the White House, foreign leaders and corporate America. Even if we allow that the full story is more complicated than the myth, the fall has been nothing short of spectacular. Twenty years later, the US Attorney’s Office he once managed is investigating him and the bars of New York and DC have stripped his license.
Kirtzman- who covered Giuliani at City Hall and was with him on 9/11- describes two Rudys: moral crusader and ambitious perfectionist juxtaposed against a cruel Machiavel who managed “to wrap his problematic acts in a cloak of righteousness.” If this tension between angels and demons exists in us all, it stands to reason that the tension would be exaggerated for a larger-than-life force on the biggest world stages.
Kirtzman masterfully tells a tragic tale of the seductive allures of power and fortune. Giuliani became accustomed to a life of luxury after the heads of state, political leaders and the media fawned over him while the rubble still burned in New York. He decided to cash in on this fame by representing questionable characters, foreign governments and companies (including Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid epidemic).
There wasn’t a straight line between these relatively minor errors in political judgment and the more colossal existential threats to American democracy (his roles in the Ukraine scandal and election denialism). It was a series of moral compromises, which over time eroded the morality of the Good Rudy altogether.
In an infamous interview, he once had choice words to describe how little he cared about his legacy. Giuliani the moralist did not become Giuliani the nihilist overnight. As I read the final chapters of the book and its epilogue, I couldn’t help but think of a quotation from CS Lewis:
"the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts"
Kirtzman’s book, which I highly recommend, is more compelling when read as a Greek tragedy than a piece of American history.
October 10, 2022
If you are looking for an unbiased, fair evaluation of Rudy this is NOT the book. This author is another liberal main stream media hack who is towing the party line and spewing out the same rhetoric they all promote, which is all Republicans are bad(literally everyone of them), 100% obsession with race, and using my new least favorite word of all time “disinformation” when referring to literally everything having anything to do with conservative values. IM SO OVER THAT BULLSHIT!
Some examples I’ll leave just briefly because I really want to forget this one. He quotes disgraced CNN hosts and the like so frequently he may as well be giving them blow jobs he loves them so much. Utter crap. He also gets lots of quotes from disgruntled ex employees of Rudy as well and trump officials like scaramucci and John Bolton. Yeah, they don’t have an agenda or anything.
The author is OBSESSED with race, as they all are and somehow manages to place every single main stream media LIE of “innocent” black men killed by police into this supposed biography (its an opinion piece not non fiction). What the AF this had to do with anything on the subject of this book is a good guess but I suspect it it so ingrained that liberals have to keep this lie fresh as if almost all of them have been proven FALSE, these black men are criminals. Also, let’s keep dividing this country by race ok, democrats feel the need to play identity politics at every opportunity. It is truly disgusting and has made my husbands job as a police officer more dangerous than it already was.
Perhaps my favorite section of this book was when this author tried to make the argument that Biden is NOT senile. It’s laughable.
Anyway, don’t waste your time. I think only kept at it cuz the narrator of the audiobook did pretty good voice impressions and I wanted to finish to leave a bad review. This was just a gross character assassination of not only Giuliani, but of course every liberal reporter’s (more honestly they are propagandists) holy grail, Trump. Disgusting.
Some examples I’ll leave just briefly because I really want to forget this one. He quotes disgraced CNN hosts and the like so frequently he may as well be giving them blow jobs he loves them so much. Utter crap. He also gets lots of quotes from disgruntled ex employees of Rudy as well and trump officials like scaramucci and John Bolton. Yeah, they don’t have an agenda or anything.
The author is OBSESSED with race, as they all are and somehow manages to place every single main stream media LIE of “innocent” black men killed by police into this supposed biography (its an opinion piece not non fiction). What the AF this had to do with anything on the subject of this book is a good guess but I suspect it it so ingrained that liberals have to keep this lie fresh as if almost all of them have been proven FALSE, these black men are criminals. Also, let’s keep dividing this country by race ok, democrats feel the need to play identity politics at every opportunity. It is truly disgusting and has made my husbands job as a police officer more dangerous than it already was.
Perhaps my favorite section of this book was when this author tried to make the argument that Biden is NOT senile. It’s laughable.
Anyway, don’t waste your time. I think only kept at it cuz the narrator of the audiobook did pretty good voice impressions and I wanted to finish to leave a bad review. This was just a gross character assassination of not only Giuliani, but of course every liberal reporter’s (more honestly they are propagandists) holy grail, Trump. Disgusting.
November 1, 2022
I came into this book knowing very little about Giuliani. All I knew of the man was that he was right-wing and he was on Trump’s staff. I was aware of his bombastic and combative approach to politics. Almost every time I read or saw anything about him I got second-hand embarrassment (his Borat appearance, the image of his hair dye leaking down his face, his infamous comments about African-American communities, etc.) I just so happened to have stumbled across the limited series Fear City: New York vs The Mafia on Netflix. After watching it, I kinda realized there might be more to Giuliani than meets the eye.
After reading this book, I gained a lot of, maybe not appreciation, but understanding of the Giuliani. I felt like Kirtzman was VERY fair to him. He did an excellent job at painting the full picture of Giuliani. My instinct is that Kirtzman leans a bit to the left, but I never felt like he was attacking Giuliani based on differing political philosophies.
Giuliani’s dreamed of being president, he was subject to depressive episodes and over-consumption, but many viewed him as a hero. It’s hard to argue with his positive impact on New York City. He helped wipe out the Mafia, and he dramatically decreased crime. He also played a huge part in boosting Americans’ morale after 09/11.
HOWEVER, he also perpetuated the stolen election myth in 2020, spread misinformation, implemented racially discriminatory tactics in his police force, and arguably contributed to the current division within the United States.
The whole time I’m reading this book, I keep wondering to myself if the good he did outweighed the bad. And I’m not sure. I guess it depends on who you ask.
I will say one thing in Giuliani‘s defense before I wrap this review up. He called his Borat scene “a hit job.”
I totally agree, but maybe not for the reasons he outlined.
After reading this book, I gained a lot of, maybe not appreciation, but understanding of the Giuliani. I felt like Kirtzman was VERY fair to him. He did an excellent job at painting the full picture of Giuliani. My instinct is that Kirtzman leans a bit to the left, but I never felt like he was attacking Giuliani based on differing political philosophies.
Giuliani’s dreamed of being president, he was subject to depressive episodes and over-consumption, but many viewed him as a hero. It’s hard to argue with his positive impact on New York City. He helped wipe out the Mafia, and he dramatically decreased crime. He also played a huge part in boosting Americans’ morale after 09/11.
HOWEVER, he also perpetuated the stolen election myth in 2020, spread misinformation, implemented racially discriminatory tactics in his police force, and arguably contributed to the current division within the United States.
The whole time I’m reading this book, I keep wondering to myself if the good he did outweighed the bad. And I’m not sure. I guess it depends on who you ask.
I will say one thing in Giuliani‘s defense before I wrap this review up. He called his Borat scene “a hit job.”
I totally agree, but maybe not for the reasons he outlined.
October 30, 2023
How did the hero of 9/11 become a washed-up hack, and the "personal lawyer" for Trump?
How did the guy who:
* fought the mob under RICO and won;
* cleaned-up NYC;
* got rid of violent crime in the city; and
* brought residents and businesses back to the
City,
engineer the two gigantic screw-ups of epic proportions, BOTH of which triggered Trump impeachment procedures?
* The Hunter Biden-Ukraine connection, leading to the infamous Trump-Zelenskyy phone call (that proved nothing about Joe Biden)? Giuliani was the genius behind that rubbish.
* The plot to sell America on the idea that massive vote fraud delivered a rigged 2020 election? Even more filth devised by Giuliani.
Read this book! It is a tale about greed, vanity, power, gluttony, and the fear of being alone with oneself -- all of which brought Giuliani from the highs of being "America's Mayor" in the post-9/11 era, to the lowest of lows, ending in a sad Press Conference at the Four Seasons (Total Landscaping) parking lot in Philadelphia, PA.
It seems that when someone on the Giuliani team is told to book a Trump Press Conference at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, that someone should always be given extremely specific guidance and highly explicit instructions.
The guy is so pathetic. The book is so so very good. 5 Stars.
How did the guy who:
* fought the mob under RICO and won;
* cleaned-up NYC;
* got rid of violent crime in the city; and
* brought residents and businesses back to the
City,
engineer the two gigantic screw-ups of epic proportions, BOTH of which triggered Trump impeachment procedures?
* The Hunter Biden-Ukraine connection, leading to the infamous Trump-Zelenskyy phone call (that proved nothing about Joe Biden)? Giuliani was the genius behind that rubbish.
* The plot to sell America on the idea that massive vote fraud delivered a rigged 2020 election? Even more filth devised by Giuliani.
Read this book! It is a tale about greed, vanity, power, gluttony, and the fear of being alone with oneself -- all of which brought Giuliani from the highs of being "America's Mayor" in the post-9/11 era, to the lowest of lows, ending in a sad Press Conference at the Four Seasons (Total Landscaping) parking lot in Philadelphia, PA.
It seems that when someone on the Giuliani team is told to book a Trump Press Conference at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, that someone should always be given extremely specific guidance and highly explicit instructions.
The guy is so pathetic. The book is so so very good. 5 Stars.
October 10, 2022
So well written and really fascinating. I have wondered what in the world happened to Giuliani; turns out this is who he’s been all along. What a pathetic, vile, hypocritical man. The disaster in his life’s wake is astonishing.
April 28, 2025
Kirtzman managed to produce a decent biography while also casting himself as the quintessential deceptive scribbler. At stake is his constant penchant for absolving black males of their crimes by suggesting they must be victims. Dorismond responded to a question by physically assaulting a police officer, but is an innocent goober according to Kirtzman. Michael Brown similarly attacked a cop, but was merely some, "unarmed black boy". Such weasel-centric journalism cannot be trusted.
May 22, 2023
A very thorough and well written biography of the man who became known as “America’s Mayor”. I came away with several conclusions after reading this book. First, the media really built up Rudy’s image as a super hero , “America’s Mayor in wake of 9/11. Yes, he ran towards the carnage and spoke eloquently at victims’ funerals and brought a much needed calming parent image the nation needed after the terrible tragedy of that day. Yet, his decision as mayor years before that to move NYC Emergency Management to right next to WTC proved catastrophic as communications between FDNY and NYPD were destroyed. They also never replaced faulty radio equipment after 1993 WTC attack which again hindered communication. Rudy also seemed to enjoy cashing in on the fame and the opportunity after leaving City Hall to turn his 9/11 celebrity into money. Obviously, Rudy had major marital scandals involving his multiple wives. The book also points out his deep connection and friendship to Donald Trump well before Trump became president. It’s frankly scary how similar those two are. They feed of each other’s egos and divisive rhetoric. Rudy really fed Trump the nonsense and lies about 2020 election being stolen and it’s exactly what Trump wanted to hear. We know what happened with Ukraine 2019 phone call with President Zelenskyy and then with the 2020 election conspiracy theories which led to January 6,2021 insurrection. It’s horrifying that Rudy played a role in both of Trump’s impeachments. I was also quite struck by and shocked at how heavy a drinker Rudy has become which certainly isn’t healthy. As a political junkie, I highly recommend this book.
October 9, 2022
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”
Or in Rudy’s case, whatever goodwill you might have had once, be totally destroyed by his own greed, incompetence, insanity, blind loyalty, and craven need to feel the same high of that mob adoration of 9/12/2001
Or in Rudy’s case, whatever goodwill you might have had once, be totally destroyed by his own greed, incompetence, insanity, blind loyalty, and craven need to feel the same high of that mob adoration of 9/12/2001
November 1, 2022
Author Andrew Kirtzman (who was with the Mayor on September 11th) provides a fascinating roadmap to the downward trajectory of Giuliani's reputation. Whether you support, pity or scorn the former Mayor, you will find much to reflect on in this book.
June 10, 2024
Andrew Kirtzman doesn't really have detailed answers on how a man who was once considered a hero after 9/11 could turn into such a pathetic and foppish has-been other than the senescence of old age and alcoholism, but he's still compiled a decent book of journalism on the downfall of America's Mayor, with a few glimpses of how Trump used Giuliani's need for attention to further humiliate him. Let's be clear. This isn't a man for anyone to feel sorry for. He was a monster WHEN he was in power and he remained a monster even when he couldn't see the end of his career. Rudy -- this vile motherfucker -- did this to himself. He accumulated vast wealth from lucrative speaking fees after 9/11 and, when that wasn't enough, increasingly snarled racism and dangerous conspiracy theories to desperately get back before the cameras. Every opportunity this man had on his way down was received by self-sabotage and entitlement. And honestly this was a good volume for me to read. Because I am now thoroughly prepared to write the bastard's obituary. This is what happens when you have no shame and the limelight matters above all other concerns: integrity, a concern for facts, and reputation. Rudy has none of that anymore.
June 23, 2024
I read this book because I had forgotten why Giuliani fell so far from his darling days as NYC mayor. It was his failed bid for the presidency and messy extramarital affairs. In his depression, he turned to his old buddy Trump, the one he allowed to build the ostentatious tower, over many New Yorkers' complaints. Interestingly, Giuliani did some good things, but whether for good or evil, he really did it all for himself, his ego. Now, he is a failed laughing stock. Well written book by a NY journalist who reported on him over the years.
November 11, 2022
Learned a lot and was reminded of much I'd already knew. I really find Rudy a fascinating figure. Many may have forgotten, and young people not even aware, of just how popular Rudy was at one time. First, as the most successful mob prosecutor in American history, a mayor who was credited, rightly or wrongly, with cleaning up New York, and reaching global iconic status after his 9-11 leadership role. For those living in New York, as I was during much of his tenure, it was known there more to the story and a dark side, and over time that slowly emerged for all to see eventually removing the halo. From his upbringing from a father with a violent past to Catholic schooling to messy personal life, it's all in this book.
September 4, 2024
Just listened to this book, and the reader was so entertaining! The story is pretty fantastic too. The downfall of America's Mayer, as well as another SLAM of an inconceivable former elected President who, also inconceivably, is the Republicans nominee for President AGAIN!
January 8, 2023
A tale of greed, arrogance, and paranoia that is told well...
February 18, 2023
Observing Rudy Giuliani’s very public unraveling on behalf of “Stop the Steal” it was often said: “What happened to Rudy?” Had they been following the story, there would have been no need to ask. Andre Kirtzman, who has been following Giuliani since the 1990’s covers his life like the reporter he is.
While Kirtzman’s words and tone are neutral, the facts do not show Giulani as a hero. At each stage of his career, there are many examples of Giuliani showing himself to be a bully.
In his prosecutorial career, the per/pro/secution of Bess Myerson stands out. Myerson, after winning the Miss America title, built a career in consumer and arts advocacy. Besides her status as one of the few recognizable professional women of her generation, the parallels to Hillary Clinton include the Giuliani's case against her which like HRC's emails has an allegation that no one can actually define as a crime, outsized media drama with very little substance, and a very quiet vindication for Myerson.
Hallmarks of his mayoral career are the “broken windows” and “stop and frisk” policies. Just as Myerson’s life was ruined for no clear reason, thousands of minority families received major and permanent setbacks through unnecessary arrests, incarcerations and fines.
In his personal life, there is a pattern of sporting a new love interest around town, while committed to another. It is hard to top announcing a divorce on TV prior to telling a wife and children. At least his first wife did not have to face cameras when, unbeknownst to her, Rudy got an annulment of their marriage.
9/11 was a gift for Rudy. He got a lot of media time and he knew how to use it. He built an image that gave him a platform and helped him escape questioning about his administration’s failures on that morning.
I thought the firefighters climbed the stairs to rescue people… well, it was sort of … they went to tell people to leave their workplace… Reason: No one told the 911 operators to stop telling callers to stay in their locations and wait for rescue. The Fire Department’s communication equipment – the same that failed in the 1993 bombing - was repurchased – and no messages could get through. (The woman who re-purchased them – whose sister represented the vendor - committed suicide.)
When he was term limited out of his mayoralty (which he tried and could not get extended) with his 9/11 luster and contacts from his political life, he opened what became (initially) a very successful consulting firm. The infamous clients stand out. He was hired by the Sackler family’s attorneys not for his legal skills, but his access to regulatory agencies. Here began the dancing with dictators.
All this time, he maintained his friendship with fellow New Yorker Donald Trump. He officiated at the funerals of both of Trump’s parents. He attended social events with him. You can imagine a builder in NYC would have many needs from City Hall. When Rudy’s presidential campaign had a spectacular fizz out, Trump gave him an extended stay at Mar-a-Lago to decompress.
The final chapters on Stop the Steal won't have much new to those who follow politics, however, informed by previous chapters you have a new dimension for thinking about what he did.
Andrew Kirzman covers all this and more. The book is highly recommended.
While Kirtzman’s words and tone are neutral, the facts do not show Giulani as a hero. At each stage of his career, there are many examples of Giuliani showing himself to be a bully.
In his prosecutorial career, the per/pro/secution of Bess Myerson stands out. Myerson, after winning the Miss America title, built a career in consumer and arts advocacy. Besides her status as one of the few recognizable professional women of her generation, the parallels to Hillary Clinton include the Giuliani's case against her which like HRC's emails has an allegation that no one can actually define as a crime, outsized media drama with very little substance, and a very quiet vindication for Myerson.
Hallmarks of his mayoral career are the “broken windows” and “stop and frisk” policies. Just as Myerson’s life was ruined for no clear reason, thousands of minority families received major and permanent setbacks through unnecessary arrests, incarcerations and fines.
In his personal life, there is a pattern of sporting a new love interest around town, while committed to another. It is hard to top announcing a divorce on TV prior to telling a wife and children. At least his first wife did not have to face cameras when, unbeknownst to her, Rudy got an annulment of their marriage.
9/11 was a gift for Rudy. He got a lot of media time and he knew how to use it. He built an image that gave him a platform and helped him escape questioning about his administration’s failures on that morning.
I thought the firefighters climbed the stairs to rescue people… well, it was sort of … they went to tell people to leave their workplace… Reason: No one told the 911 operators to stop telling callers to stay in their locations and wait for rescue. The Fire Department’s communication equipment – the same that failed in the 1993 bombing - was repurchased – and no messages could get through. (The woman who re-purchased them – whose sister represented the vendor - committed suicide.)
When he was term limited out of his mayoralty (which he tried and could not get extended) with his 9/11 luster and contacts from his political life, he opened what became (initially) a very successful consulting firm. The infamous clients stand out. He was hired by the Sackler family’s attorneys not for his legal skills, but his access to regulatory agencies. Here began the dancing with dictators.
All this time, he maintained his friendship with fellow New Yorker Donald Trump. He officiated at the funerals of both of Trump’s parents. He attended social events with him. You can imagine a builder in NYC would have many needs from City Hall. When Rudy’s presidential campaign had a spectacular fizz out, Trump gave him an extended stay at Mar-a-Lago to decompress.
The final chapters on Stop the Steal won't have much new to those who follow politics, however, informed by previous chapters you have a new dimension for thinking about what he did.
Andrew Kirzman covers all this and more. The book is highly recommended.
October 2, 2023
Rudy Giuliani’s life has the arc of a Hollywood melodrama. A poor kid from Brooklyn, the son of a house burglar, he went to law school and rose to Attorney for the Southern District of New York and U.S. Attorney General. He became the New York mayor in 1994 and his fame peaked with his high-profile role in leading the public through the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
He accomplished great things such successfully prosecuting mob bosses, a crooked Congressman, crooked cops, and Wall Street criminals such as Michael Milliken and Ivan Boesky. He decreased crime in New York, especially homicides. He achieved global fame for his role in providing the leadership to get New York and the nation through the aftermath of 9/11. Every conceivable door was open to him after 9/11 but his only reaction to the public’s adoration was ‘How can I cash in on this?’
He tried and failed to gain the Republican Presidential nomination for the 2008 campaign, which ended a lifelong dream and threw him into fits of depression and heavy drinking. He floundered around (e.g., late night infomercials) then tied his wagon to the Trump presidency, becoming a “leading figure in the Trump psychodrama.” Enmeshing himself in innumerable scandals and making each of them worse, he screamed and ranted in the media, until interviewers openly asked him on-air ‘What has happened to you?’
He is aggressive to an ugly degree, hugely self-righteous, a grand stander, a drunk, a racist, a man with no moral compass who always claims the moral high ground, a womanizer, an attention-whore, and now a walking joke. (See Giuliani on Borat 2: https://tinyurl.com/2mztwb5w) Behind his every accomplishment are many carefully buried complaints about lies and shady, dangerous, incompetent acts. He is desperate for constant adoration, and lives for power and the public spotlight. But, not content with constant approbation, he greedily does everything he can to cash in his fame in the most money-grubbing, immoral, and off-putting ways possible: “in the end he was a captive of his insatiable self-interest.”
Giuliani is still loved by many far right wing Americans. Like Senator Huey Long, or Senator Joe McCarthy, or his pal Donald Trump, his life is a classic illustration of who rises to the top in American populist politics.
He accomplished great things such successfully prosecuting mob bosses, a crooked Congressman, crooked cops, and Wall Street criminals such as Michael Milliken and Ivan Boesky. He decreased crime in New York, especially homicides. He achieved global fame for his role in providing the leadership to get New York and the nation through the aftermath of 9/11. Every conceivable door was open to him after 9/11 but his only reaction to the public’s adoration was ‘How can I cash in on this?’
He tried and failed to gain the Republican Presidential nomination for the 2008 campaign, which ended a lifelong dream and threw him into fits of depression and heavy drinking. He floundered around (e.g., late night infomercials) then tied his wagon to the Trump presidency, becoming a “leading figure in the Trump psychodrama.” Enmeshing himself in innumerable scandals and making each of them worse, he screamed and ranted in the media, until interviewers openly asked him on-air ‘What has happened to you?’
He is aggressive to an ugly degree, hugely self-righteous, a grand stander, a drunk, a racist, a man with no moral compass who always claims the moral high ground, a womanizer, an attention-whore, and now a walking joke. (See Giuliani on Borat 2: https://tinyurl.com/2mztwb5w) Behind his every accomplishment are many carefully buried complaints about lies and shady, dangerous, incompetent acts. He is desperate for constant adoration, and lives for power and the public spotlight. But, not content with constant approbation, he greedily does everything he can to cash in his fame in the most money-grubbing, immoral, and off-putting ways possible: “in the end he was a captive of his insatiable self-interest.”
Giuliani is still loved by many far right wing Americans. Like Senator Huey Long, or Senator Joe McCarthy, or his pal Donald Trump, his life is a classic illustration of who rises to the top in American populist politics.
April 4, 2023
The author does an excellent job of tracking Giuliani's career. He has many excellent stories, starting with the story of him skipping school to attend a visit by President Kennedy and going through security to see the President up close.
Was Giuliani driven by principles? The author suggests that he had some strong general moral principles that guided him (and certainly resulted in his being willing to attack people in ways that many considered unfair).
He certainly always seemed to have been unsympathetic to the rights of those accused of crimes and was willing to pursue policies that were not that concerned about violating the liberties of people accused of crimes.
On the morning of 9/11 Giuliani was not popular, in large part because of police abuses that Giuliani had not dealt with effectively. But the attack resulted in him becoming a hero (even though, as the author points out, the Mayor had failed to address communication problems that may well have cost firefighters their lives).
The author also points out that Giuliani tried to get his term extended, delaying the election. And then afterwards, he cashed in on his fame. He quickly latched on to questionable foreign leaders in his role as a consultant and began to spend money wildly.
The author's account of Giuliani's presidential campaign shows how poor his campaign was. It would have been difficult for him to have won given his moderate positions. But the campaign was dreadful.
And a good chunk of the book is about Giuliani's fall when he decided to support Trump. He was willing to make reckless charges against Clinton during the campaign. He thought he could become Secretary of State. And then he decided, in a attempt to be relevant, reached out to questionable characters in Ukraine to try to smear Biden. But it was done so poorly, without any evidence, and so reckless that it resulted in Trump being impeached.
The only hesitancy I had in reading this book was reading about someone who is already fading from history and will be a footnote when this part of our history is written.
Was Giuliani driven by principles? The author suggests that he had some strong general moral principles that guided him (and certainly resulted in his being willing to attack people in ways that many considered unfair).
He certainly always seemed to have been unsympathetic to the rights of those accused of crimes and was willing to pursue policies that were not that concerned about violating the liberties of people accused of crimes.
On the morning of 9/11 Giuliani was not popular, in large part because of police abuses that Giuliani had not dealt with effectively. But the attack resulted in him becoming a hero (even though, as the author points out, the Mayor had failed to address communication problems that may well have cost firefighters their lives).
The author also points out that Giuliani tried to get his term extended, delaying the election. And then afterwards, he cashed in on his fame. He quickly latched on to questionable foreign leaders in his role as a consultant and began to spend money wildly.
The author's account of Giuliani's presidential campaign shows how poor his campaign was. It would have been difficult for him to have won given his moderate positions. But the campaign was dreadful.
And a good chunk of the book is about Giuliani's fall when he decided to support Trump. He was willing to make reckless charges against Clinton during the campaign. He thought he could become Secretary of State. And then he decided, in a attempt to be relevant, reached out to questionable characters in Ukraine to try to smear Biden. But it was done so poorly, without any evidence, and so reckless that it resulted in Trump being impeached.
The only hesitancy I had in reading this book was reading about someone who is already fading from history and will be a footnote when this part of our history is written.
October 20, 2022
What an amazing read. Kirtzman takes his readers into Guiliani's life, from his early days that formed who he became to what is really a shell of a man today. I laughed at the buffoon he has become like so many others -- but after reading Kirtzman's book you see what a tragic figure a once pretty decent person became. Guiliani's desperate need to not only be relevant but to continue to be famous is related to readers in an unbiased, critical and yet compassionate manner.
I've worked with people who defined themselves by their careers. Some did pretty well -- they had a plan for what they would do when they retired and discovered there was much more to life than working. Others, those that didn't plan, clung to their glory days and often seemed to have no idea their last "big thing" was 10 to 15 years before. They acted like it was just last week. This is Guiliani....he did a good thing, but it was decades ago. He hasn't moved on and seems to have deteriorated so much that even those closest to him can't get through to him. What is sad and tragic for others is that he has access to the world stage and in his desperation to again be famous he courts disaster for us. His family needs to stop enabling him and sit him down and do a serious intervention. If it were just a regular person with no access to the world stage, sure, we'd chuckle, but we'd get them help.
Kirtzman is an amazing writer. You can say sure he is because he's a journalist -- but there are journalists who write in a dry textbook manner. Kirtzman tells you a compelling story that you just can't put down once you start reading.
I've worked with people who defined themselves by their careers. Some did pretty well -- they had a plan for what they would do when they retired and discovered there was much more to life than working. Others, those that didn't plan, clung to their glory days and often seemed to have no idea their last "big thing" was 10 to 15 years before. They acted like it was just last week. This is Guiliani....he did a good thing, but it was decades ago. He hasn't moved on and seems to have deteriorated so much that even those closest to him can't get through to him. What is sad and tragic for others is that he has access to the world stage and in his desperation to again be famous he courts disaster for us. His family needs to stop enabling him and sit him down and do a serious intervention. If it were just a regular person with no access to the world stage, sure, we'd chuckle, but we'd get them help.
Kirtzman is an amazing writer. You can say sure he is because he's a journalist -- but there are journalists who write in a dry textbook manner. Kirtzman tells you a compelling story that you just can't put down once you start reading.
November 6, 2022
Reading this made me feel a little like a rubbernecker craning to see a trainwreck...probably because that's the truth. I did gain or confirm some understanding of this man. He has no moral compass and he is not guided by any sense of wrong or right. He is guided by a hunger for power and attention. He makes terrible decisions and keeps horrible company. He's a liar and a coward. He emerged from 9-11 as "America's Mayor", somewhat undeservedly, and proceeded to milk that beyond what decency allows. I had forgotten that his term as Mayor ended at the end of 2001 because he was running against Hillary for the NY Senate seat and he dropped out of the race for health reasons. So he TRIED TO STAY IN OFFICE as mayor of NYC. Yeah, it didn't work then either. He completely ruined his life and legacy after that, as we've seen, all for fame and greed and money. Making nonsensical legal arguments, horrible decisions, embarrassing himself repeatedly, lying, pandering, hanging out with criminals.... He's the worst. Well, almost.
The book was well-written, I believe it treated him fairly
The book was well-written, I believe it treated him fairly
January 27, 2023
What a sloppy person…
This was a very well written and supported by research portrayal of Giuliani as a flawed man from the get go. It chronicles his career mired in controversy and pursuit for personal power and wealth. My one issue with the book is this very lens through which author approached it, which is the lens of benefit of hindsight. I think it’s easy to look back over the last 50 years and judge decisions made back in the 90s as controversial. While Giuliani is given credit for some of his accomplishments as a prosecutor and mayor, it’s done in a tone of “yes, but” rather than fully contextualizing impact at the time. I would have preferred to read a story of innocence loss, a fallen hero, and then go back and draw a string of facts that would have connected the dots of series of failures and misjudgments along the way. The way the book reads is that Giuliani didn’t fall off the rails; he was on a parabolic climb into crazy from the beginning.
Nonetheless, I found the work to be informative and would recommend to anyone who has watch the Giuliani story play out over the years.
This was a very well written and supported by research portrayal of Giuliani as a flawed man from the get go. It chronicles his career mired in controversy and pursuit for personal power and wealth. My one issue with the book is this very lens through which author approached it, which is the lens of benefit of hindsight. I think it’s easy to look back over the last 50 years and judge decisions made back in the 90s as controversial. While Giuliani is given credit for some of his accomplishments as a prosecutor and mayor, it’s done in a tone of “yes, but” rather than fully contextualizing impact at the time. I would have preferred to read a story of innocence loss, a fallen hero, and then go back and draw a string of facts that would have connected the dots of series of failures and misjudgments along the way. The way the book reads is that Giuliani didn’t fall off the rails; he was on a parabolic climb into crazy from the beginning.
Nonetheless, I found the work to be informative and would recommend to anyone who has watch the Giuliani story play out over the years.
February 22, 2023
I knew very little about Giuliani before 911. His speeches then were excellent. I read many books about how 911 was handled—poorly. The fiasco re the fire dept and police dept not being able to communicate cost many lives. It was a problem that should have fixed by his administration.
It is disappointing that a man who was so thoroughly immersed in his religion throughout his school years can ignore facts to suit his purposes. No shame or regrets. There are many facts and quotes from employees and friends that attest to his preoccupation with earning lots of money after he left office. He seems to lack a moral compass—he makes up lies “for the greater good” in his opinion. He found a soulmate in Trump.
He did too much damage for me to feel sorry for him. The author does praise him for his accomplishments. Rudy disregarded the cost of human rights (especially for minorities) as justifiable because NY ended up with fewer guns, murders, trash on the streets, etc.
Rudy was a staunch friend to his closest buddies. They failed him by not trying to rein him in.
Our country is in trouble. Civility, honesty, and trying to find common ground is lacking at every level.
It is disappointing that a man who was so thoroughly immersed in his religion throughout his school years can ignore facts to suit his purposes. No shame or regrets. There are many facts and quotes from employees and friends that attest to his preoccupation with earning lots of money after he left office. He seems to lack a moral compass—he makes up lies “for the greater good” in his opinion. He found a soulmate in Trump.
He did too much damage for me to feel sorry for him. The author does praise him for his accomplishments. Rudy disregarded the cost of human rights (especially for minorities) as justifiable because NY ended up with fewer guns, murders, trash on the streets, etc.
Rudy was a staunch friend to his closest buddies. They failed him by not trying to rein him in.
Our country is in trouble. Civility, honesty, and trying to find common ground is lacking at every level.
June 14, 2025
Warning: if you are a Trump supporter or don't think Giuliani is a crazy person, you will probably not like my review. When Rudy went all in on supporting Trump, I was one of those people who wondered, "what happened to you?" But now I can see (not just from this book, but it does lay things out clearly and concisely) nothing happened to him - he was always this crazy. He was just protected by the people around him. And it's no wonder Trump stood by him and that Rudy made it through the tribulations that many others in Trump World didn't. He was telling Trump exactly what he wanted to hear - the ultimate yes man - and willing to do or say anything to show his loyalty. Maybe if this author (or anyone!!!) would start revealing what they know before it's too late, things could go differently. Or maybe not. I mean, we all knew Biden was declining, right? We didn't need Tapper's "shocking" revelations. Anyway, read this to remind yourself how quaint it was that we were mad about January 6 when compared to what is happening in our country right now (today is No Kings Day for what it's worth).
December 18, 2023
I actually wanted to read this book because I had to pick a person who mirrored Macbeth's fall from power, and corrupt leadership. Though it was slightly difficult to read about Giuliani, I learned a lot from this book. This book was dense, but it shows who Rudy Giuliani really is. To me he's always been the same, corrupt person, but I am only newly 18, so I haven't known him for an especially long time. However, this book was able to detail what this man is in today's political empire: a fraud. He's a creep to me. Yes, he did make NYC cleaner than it had ever been, and pulled together the character and courage of Manhattan in 2001, but he's not "America's Mayor" anymore, hasn't been for a while. He's more of "America's Shame," now. His slimy politics and egotistical beliefs slightly disgust me. Glad I picked this book for my project.
April 9, 2024
I think the Giuliani downfall is one of the funniest political stories of the century. As Kirtzman shows, the cigar chomping adulterer Rudy has always been a gigantic alcohol-soaked piece of fecal matter, obsessed with fame and always taking credit for things that he barely played a part in. The different episodes in his life from attorney to mayor to failed presidential candidate to Trump goon are laid out chronologically, sharing a common thread where the police brutality minimizing election truther's greatest despair results from his celebrity beginning to fade. There's a lot of tragedy and a lot of comedy in this moron's life and I appreciated the full accounting of how we got to the point that what was once the most beloved man in America became a babbling yellow-toothed punchline.
Never Forget:
Four
Seasons
Total
Landscaping
Never Forget:
Four
Seasons
Total
Landscaping
January 12, 2025
Rudolph Giuliani used to be one of the most respected men in America, having been the mayor of New York during 9/11. He was praised for his leadership during the attack, and he rose to international fame, even getting knighted for his accomplishments. He was a favourite to be the GOP presidential nominee in the 2008 election. But then something happened. Despite having an early lead in the polls, he lost the nomination to John McCain. And that was only the start of his troubles. The last few years, Guiliani has been a tragic figure, a laughing stock and a shadow of his former self. What happened?
Andrew Kirtzman has followed Giuliani's career since he was a mayoral candidate in the late 1980's. He has written a biography, chronicling Guiliani's life from childhood to now. The title "rise and tragic fall" is fitting. It's a fascinating read.
Andrew Kirtzman has followed Giuliani's career since he was a mayoral candidate in the late 1980's. He has written a biography, chronicling Guiliani's life from childhood to now. The title "rise and tragic fall" is fitting. It's a fascinating read.
October 29, 2022
This book, written by a journalist who has followed Giuliani's career since he ran for Mayor in 1993, is a biography of Giuliani. The author discusses Rudy's growing up with a semi-criminal father and his Catholic education and how that affected his character. The author and his assistants clearly did a lot of research and spoke to a number of people who knew Rudy. Even though I read Leadership by Rudy, after reading this book, I realized there was still a lot to learn about Rudy. I'm still very saddened by how far Rudy has fallen. Even though the author never said it is clear to me that Rudy is an alcoholic and that this may have affected a lot of his decisions. A really good book by an author I will read again.
November 20, 2022
Very well written biography about Rudy Giuliani. What a train wreck of a man. It is rare to see someone self-destruct to this degree. His highs and lows are incredible. All of this makes of course for a riveting biography. It is interesting though that his faults were there for all to see from the beginning. 9/11 took the attention away from the man's dark side (e.g. the cruel treatment of Haitian refugees) and also, at least initially, from the errors that he made in the lead up to this disaster (e.g. the location of the Office of Emergency Management). Giuliani hardly seems to have any red lines and he manages to justify his various nefarious acts with ease and does not seem to feel any guilt or shame.
March 26, 2023
Great read with insight to Giuliani, much of which was not in the public eye. Sad to read of how he fell out of favor after being such a huge presence for all.
Sometimes, the author got off track, and I had to remind myself I was reading a book about Rudy Giuliani, not Donald Trump. While the majority of the writing here was "reportive" or informative in nature, there were points where the author's political views and general dislike of the former president skewed what I felt was the main story, even though there were some tie ins. But don't let that stop you from reading!
Sometimes, the author got off track, and I had to remind myself I was reading a book about Rudy Giuliani, not Donald Trump. While the majority of the writing here was "reportive" or informative in nature, there were points where the author's political views and general dislike of the former president skewed what I felt was the main story, even though there were some tie ins. But don't let that stop you from reading!
October 24, 2022
A brilliant retelling of the tragic (often pathetically so) fall of a key player in some of the worst incidents in recent U.S. history. Giuliani purportedly (mostly as told by him) is most concerned with "what is right," but unfortunately switches the script from "I do this because it is right" to "this is right because I am doing this," which makes him the perfect companion of a particular ex-president.
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