Originally posted by: cwjerome
Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Having read his book on Leadership I would have no problem with him as President.
It is a good book... people who oppose him ought to give it a read.
All I know is Rudy was a great mayor and a great leader. In any crisis he faced -a fire, a main break, a blackout, Flight 800- he throws on the clothes of an emergency worker, tours the scene, gather the heads of his agencies, designs a plan of action, and makes public appearances informing the city what's going on in detail. And he did it within a couple hours of the incident.
Most lame attacks he incurred for his "grandiosity" and building a "bunker" were weaksauce partisan jabs from people who disliked him personally, and most of even his opponents eventually rallied to him for his good work. The plan he devised after September 11 was brilliant. And his crisis-management was just a piece of his overall method of governance. The bottom line is, he was elected in 1993 to bring order to a city on the verge of civil collapse (and he hasn't just done it through great stewardship of the NYPD). He did it make making it clear to all that what seemed as an ungovernable city was in fact governable in all ways-- by the sheer will and leadership he brought to the job.
I may or may not think he'd make a good president or even that great as a person, but I will always acknowledge and respect what he did as a mayor.