Rudy Giuliani in The 100 Greatest Speeches, by Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi

On Foreign Policy: Countries must all stand together in fight against terrorism

Opening remarks to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Terrorism, NYC, Oct. 1, 2001: "This is not a time for further study or vague directives. We are right and they are wrong. It is as simple as that."

In this speech at the UN, when the disaster was fresh in everyone's minds, Giuliani passionately urged the General Assembly to face down any country that supported terrorism. Giuliani's delivery was forceful and emotive. He was angry: "This was the deadliest terrorist attack in history. It claimed more lives than Pearl Harbor or D-Day. This was not just an attack on the City of New York or on the United States of America. It was an attack on the very idea of a free, inclusive, and civil society." His main thesis was that if countries didn't stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight against terrorism--whatever that might mean in the future--then terrorists would succeed in destroying freedom, democracy and the underlying principles on which the United Nations had been built.

Source: The 100 Greatest Speeches, by Kourdi & Maier, p.122-124 Oct 1, 2001

On Homeland Security: America's Mayor: mouthpiece for how Americans felt post-9/11

After the 9/11 attacks it was Mayor Rudy Giuliani, not President George W. Bush, who was the immediate voice of authority on American television. His response was hailed internationally and earned him the nickname of "America's Mayor", a title given to him first by Oprah Winfrey at a Yankee Stadium 9/11 memorial service on 23 September 2001. Also in 2001, Time magazine named Giuliani "Person of the Year" and from that point onwards he was much in demand for his stand against terrorism and as a proponent of freedom from fear. In his public statements, Giuliani was a mouthpiece for what Americans, and particularly New Yorkers, felt after 9/11. He was seen as a point of safety: capable, understanding, driven, sharing in their anger and despair. He said: "Tomorrow New York is going to be here", and he went to great lengths to explain and show how New York would develop, literally, from the ashes of the disaster. Source: The 100 Greatest Speeches, by Kourdi & Maier, p.124-125 Sep 23, 2001

The above quotations are from The 100 Insight and Lessons from 100 of the Greatest Speeches Ever Delivered by Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi. Click here for other excerpts from The 100 Insight and Lessons from 100 of the Greatest Speeches Ever Delivered by Simon Maier and Jeremy Kourdi. Click here for other excerpts by Rudy Giuliani. Click here for a profile of Rudy Giuliani.
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