Giuliani's toughness edged toward ruthlessness and became a defining aspect of his mayoralty.

In a 1-11-08 post I wrote:

I used to admire and respect Rudolph Giuliani.

Although I still appreciate the way he cleaned up New York City, something I have experienced firsthand, I have little admiration and even less respect for him now. He is just not presidential material.

Today The New York Times has an article about him entitled "In Matters Big and Small, Crossing Giuliani Had Price." The flavor of the article is as follows:

Rudolph W. Giuliani likens himself to a boxer who never takes a punch without swinging back. As mayor, he made the vengeful roundhouse an instrument of government, clipping anyone who crossed him.

Mr. Giuliani was a pugilist in a city of political brawlers. But far more than his predecessors, historians and politicians say, his toughness edged toward ruthlessness and became a defining aspect of his mayoralty.