Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America’s Mayor

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year What happened to Rudy Giuliani? That is the question millions of Americans have asked about this once-beloved leader. Andrew Kirtzman, who has been following Giuliani since the 1990s, answers that question in this fascinating biography. Giuliani was hailed after 9/11 as “America’s Mayor,” a singular figure who at the time was more widely admired than the pope. He was brilliant, accomplished—and complicated. He conflated politics with morality and caused his own downfall with a series of disastrous decisions and cynical compromises. He made reckless personal choices and engaged in self-destructive behavior. His need for power, money, and attention gradually ruined his reputation, cost him friendships, and ultimately damaged the country. Kirtzman, who was with Giuliani at the World Trade Center on 9/11, conducted hundreds of interviews to write this insightful portrait of this polarizing figure, from the beginning of his rise to his ruinous 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. He was a major figure in both of Trump’s impeachments, and ended up widely ostracized, in legal jeopardy, and facing financial ruin. This is the remarkable story of how it all began and how it came crashing down.