Giuliani: What Happened To America’s Mayor?

[DanaK]

Quote

From CNN Original Series and Left/Right, Giuliani: What Happened to America's Mayor? asks how the man some considered a hero in the aftermath of 9/11 became a key architect of President Donald Trump's election conspiracies. Weaving together a rich tapestry of archival footage and illuminating interviews with influential friends and former colleagues from his multi-decade career, this four-part series goes behind the scenes to witness Giuliani's operatic life of victories and defeats from his heyday at the Southern District of New York to his mayoralty and key role in the Trump administration. This revealing series is the definitive telling of the Giuliani story, exposing the psyche of one of America's most iconic politicians. Giuliani: What Happened to America's Mayor? will air over two consecutive weekends, launching with two episodes on Sunday, January 8 at 9pm and 10pm ET/PT on CNN.

 

[Bklyndeb]

My armchair diagnosis is tertiary syphillitic dementia. 

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, Bklyndeb said:

My armchair diagnosis is tertiary syphillitic dementia. 

I remember when he was so admired after 9/11. I just can't believe it is the same guy. 

[Mondrianyone]

Just had a conversation about him the other day. He started out crazy (married his cousin, for example), then had one transcendent moment in his life (his remarks post-9/11), then reverted to crazy again. That one moment carried him a lot further than he ever deserved to go.

[libgirl2]

4 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

Just had a conversation about him the other day. He started out crazy (married his cousin, for example), then had one transcendent moment in his life (his remarks post-9/11), then reverted to crazy again. That one moment carried him a lot further than he ever deserved to go.

He pretty much flew under my radar pre- 9/11. 

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, Mondrianyone said:

That one moment carried him a lot further than he ever deserved to go.

There was a great segment on The Daily Show in the Jon Stewart era, about how Giuliani had become so psychotic in his milking of his 9/11 fame that he'd insert "9/11" into every conversation, regardless of relevance.  For years afterward, a friend and I signed our emails "Shoot you later, 9/11" thanks to that segment.

So yeah, the crazy isn't new - and even if one didn't know pre-9/11, it was on display not long after that veneer wore off - it's just enhanced these days.  And, hoo boy, is it enhanced.  I just hope they don't gloss over what came before and act like he was totally normal until he became Trump's lawyer.

[Mondrianyone]

1 hour ago, libgirl2 said:

He pretty much flew under my radar pre- 9/11. 

I wish he'd flown under mine, but I was there for all his nonsense pre-9/11. I saw his clownish costumed crack buy with our senator, Al D'Amato, in the neighborhood where I lived. I saw him let his bratty, hyperactive son take over the mayoral inauguration (son's still an idiot decades later, but the daughter seems to have removed herself from the family frolics). I saw him announce he was divorcing his second wife at a press conference without bothering to let her know about it first. And we have Oprah to thank for the "America's Mayor" tag--someone else who's stayed past her sell-by date, IMO. Ah, memories . . .

[b2H]

Often times, I see reference to ‘noun, verb, 9/11’ with reference to this guy.

[Sarah 103]

I think the mini-series did an excellent job answering the question asked in the subtitle. I found the answer satisfying, if dissapointing. I am a younger person who was only dimly aware of his career pre-9/11, so I found that those episodes interesting, but I understand that people who lived through the 1970s and 1980s in New York might find it boring or revealing nothing new. If anyone falls into that category but is still interested in the mini-series, I would reccomend skipping the first two episodes and watching the last two. 

[Dr.OO7]

On 12/30/2022 at 10:21 AM, libgirl2 said:

I remember when he was so admired after 9/11. I just can't believe it is the same guy. 

Me neither and I was never a huge fan to begin with, though I like to joke that I'm one of the few African-American New Yorkers who didn't outright despise him. Either way, I put that aside after 9/11, but now. . .

It would be heartbreaking what he's reduced himself to if he hadn't brought it on himself and weren't so indeed, despicable.

[Minivanessa]

On 5/5/2023 at 12:30 PM, Sarah 103 said:

I think the mini-series did an excellent job answering the question asked in the subtitle. I found the answer satisfying, if dissapointing. I am a younger person who was only dimly aware of his career pre-9/11, so I found that those episodes interesting, but I understand that people who lived through the 1970s and 1980s in New York might find it boring or revealing nothing new. If anyone falls into that category but is still interested in the mini-series, I would reccomend skipping the first two episodes and watching the last two. 

Thanks for this. I was away on vacation when this series was released, and now I may go look for it. 

I'm old enough to remember the young-ish US Attorney Giuliani who became famous as he headed the US Department of Justice task force in NY, that got convictions against some high-level mobsters like Gotti. It's a real mind-fork to see old footage of him in documentaries about those efforts against organized crime from the 90's, and to know what he is now. I'm not a New Yorker so I'll probably watch the first episodes as I'll probably learn enough to make it worthwhile.