bank robbers, kidnappers, and corrupt officials. In
1972, he was appointed federal prosecutor for the
Knapp Commission, investigating police corrup-
tion. Starting in 1975, he served as associate deputy
attorney general in Washington, D.C., where he
changed political party affiliation from Democrat to
Republican. In 1983, he was appointed U.S. attorney
for the Southern District of New York. In this posi-
tion, he earned a reputation for prosecuting orga-
nized crime leaders. In 1986, he prosecuted “The
Commission” case, jailing Genovese, Colombo, and
Lucchese gangsters. Giuliani began giving press con-
ferences and appeared on talk shows. In 1987, he
prosecuted Wall Street financiers Ivan Boesky and
Dennis Levine for insider trading, and the “Pizza
Connection” drug case, which centered on a scheme
to use a number of pizza parlors as fronts for a her-
oin and cocaine smuggling ring. In 1989, Giuliani
ran for mayor against Democratic Manhattan Bor-
ough president David Dinkins, an African Ameri-
can. Dinkins was popular with blacks and whites,
who saw him as a remedy for race relations, crack,
and street crime. Dinkins defeated Giuliani by
42,000 votes but was an ineffectual leader.
In 1993, Giuliani ran against Dinkins as a liberal
Republican and won by 2 percent of the vote. Mayor
Giuliani announced a “quality of life” campaign: Po-
lice swept problem areas, arresting even small-time
criminals. Graffiti vandals, prostitutes, and squeegee
men were removed by police. The campaign drew
criticism from civil libertarians.
When Giuliani took office in 1994, the city’s defi-
cit was $2 billion. Giuliani cut the city’s budget to the
bone, eliminating offices, committees, and social372 Giuliani, Rudolph The Nineties in America
New York mayor-elect Rudolph Giuliani hugs his wife, Donna, as they celebrate with supporters on November 3, 1993. Giuliani, a Repub-
lican, defeated Democratic mayor David Dinkins.(AP/Wide World Photos)