| Dubbed
"America's mayor" for his leadership role after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani emerged as an early,
if unlikely, front-runner for the Republican nomination. Giuliani's stance
on social issues -- he is pro-choice, and supports gay rights, gun control and
embryonic stem cell research -- puts him at odds with social conservatives while
other Republicans applaud his tough stance on crime and terrorism and his record
as mayor. During his tenure as mayor from 1994 to 2002, Giuliani is credited
with reducing crime, reversing a $2 billion deficit, lowering taxes and cutting
welfare rolls in half. Some, however, criticized his leadership style as abrasive
and dramatic and his second term was beleaguered by personal issues that unraveled
in the public eye. Giuliani began his political career as an assistant U.S.
attorney in the Southern District of New York and became President Reagan's associate
attorney general in 1981. He lost his first run for mayor in 1989 and withdrew
from a 2000 Senate bid against Hillary Clinton after being diagnosed with prostate
cancer. After leaving office, Giuliani founded consulting firm Giuliani
Partners in 2002 and was named partner in the law firm of Bracewell & Giuliani
in 2005. | 
