Giuliani Named 'Time' Magazine's Person of 2001

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 24, 2001

Giuliani Named 'Time' Magazine's Person of 2001

Heralded for his steadfast response to a grief-torn city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani on Sunday was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.

Heralded for his steadfast response to a grief-torn city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani on Sunday was named Time magazine's Person of the Year.

The magazine's editors chose Giuliani "for having more faith in us than we had in ourselves, for being brave when required and rude where appropriate and tender without being trite, for not sleeping and not quitting and not shrinking from the pain all around him."

Time managing editor Jim Kelly said he knew on Sept. 11 that the Person of the Year would have some connection to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Editors spent hours debating whether to name Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terror assault, for the spot, Kelly said.

But bin Laden was "too small a man to get the credit for all that has happened in America in the autumn of 2001," the magazine said. "It is what came after his men had finished their job that has come to define this year."

Giuliani's communications director, Sunny Mindel, said: "The mayor is very humbled and feels this honor is really being given to the people of the city of New York for their courage and bravery during the most horrific attack on the United States."

The Person of the Year package includes an oral history of Sept. 11 as told by Giuliani and his aides. The issue hits newsstands on Monday, one week before Giuliani's last day in office after eight years.

Giuliani was barred by term limits from seeking a third consecutive term. Michael Bloomberg will be sworn in as mayor at midnight on Dec. 31.

Giuliani Wants to Extend His Tenure as Mayor of NYC

Giuliani, Bush Light Rockefeller Center Tree