Giuliani Casts Himself as Heir to Reagan Mantle

Sept. 19, 2007 — -- Honorary knight and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani hopped across the pond to London this week in an attempt to portray himself as heir to the Ronald Reagan mantle.

He met today with three current and former British prime ministers, issued his strongest comments to date about how a Giuliani Administration would "use any option" to prevent Iran from ever obtaining nuclear weapons, and heralded the alliance between the United States and United Kingdom. While there, Giuliani planned to meet with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — Reagan's closest ally and a dear friend — and announced that two of Thatcher's former advisers Robert Conquest and Dr. Nile Gardiner had joined his campaign.

The trip served many purposes, including fundraising and burnishing the foreign-policy credentials of a politician with a largely domestic focus. But much of it seemed part of Giuliani's campaign pitch to Republicans that while he may not be the most conservative candidate in the GOP primaries, he's the one most like Reagan — strong internationally (Reagan with communism, Giuliani with terrorism) and with more general election appeal than his GOP rivals.

Giuliani Touts 'Special' Relationship Between U.S. and U.K.

Speaking to reporters outside 10 Downing Street after meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife, Sarah, Giuliani heralded the "special" relationship between the two countries, "forged over many, many years with common objectives, common values, tested by war [and] tested by terrorism."

In a roundtable with reporters, Giuliani cast the US-UK alliance as "such a strong relationship that it is going to endure whatever we have to endure to overcome Islamic terrorism," according to the Associated Press.

Giuliani praised how President Bush and then-Prime Minister Tony Blair had led the coalition to remove Saddam Hussein from power, saying "we should be proud that we removed this tyrant and gave the Iraqi people a chance for freedom."

He downplayed any damage to the U.S.-U.K. relationship in the post-war era as "occasional disagreements." It's a relationship "of enduring friendship even if there are contentious issues sometimes," Giuliani said, sidestepping the question when asked whether the time was right for Britain to withdrawal its troops from Iraq.

"I think Britain has to make that decision," he said.

Giuliani on Iran

Later in the day, Giuliani used the occasion of a fundraising lunch to discuss another vexing Middle East problems -- Iran's nuclear program. Saying he was heartened by how seriously Prime Minister Brown takes the issue, Giuliani said, "I believe the United States and our allies should deliver a very clear message to Iran ... They are not going to be allowed to become a nuclear power -- it's just not going to happen."

In some of his strongest comments to date about Iran, the former Mayor said, "the policy of the United States of America should be very, very clear: we will use any option we believe is in our best interest to stop them from being a nuclear power." Washington should give "an absolute assurance that, if they get to the point that they are going to become a nuclear power, we will prevent them or we will set them back five or 10 years," he added. "If that really sinks in, there is a better chance we will never have to use a military option in dealing with them."

Channeling Churchill and Reagan

The former mayor has made his leadership during and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks one of the centerpieces of his campaign, and has said that he drew inspiration immediately after the attack from a biography of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Early in the morning of Sept. 12, 2001, Giuliani read the chapters describing Churchill becoming prime minister in 1940.

"I thought about the people of London enduring relentless bombing and continuing to lead their lives. I thought about how people in present-day Israel do the same," Giuliani wrote in his biography "Leadership." "It reaffirmed a strong feeling I had that Americans would rise to this challenge."

Queen Elizabeth II knighted Giuliani in February 2002. "She congratulated me for my leadership during a very horrible time," Giuliani said at the time. A U.S. citizen, Giuliani was not knighted by kneeling before a sword-clutching monarch and he is not entitled to be addressed as Sir Rudolph, though he has the right to call himself Rudy Giuliani, KBE (Knight of the British Empire).

Made honorary commanders of the British Empire that day five years ago were New York's former fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen and former police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the latter of whom has been accused of various questionable business practices, embarrassing his former patron.

Today Giuliani also participated in a $1,000-per-person fundraising lunch at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London featuring a question-and-answer session with Celia Sandys, Churchill's granddaughter, where he made his comments about Iran, mentioning the subject had come up in conversations with Brown, Blair, and in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

Tonight, he is scheduled to deliver the first "Margaret Thatcher Atlantic Bridge lecture" and accept the Medal of Freedom from the conservative hero whose close alliance with Reagan Giuliani today credited with helping to defeat communism.

Former NYC Mayor Focuses on General Election

Giuliani told the Sunday Times of London that comparisons between the "Iron Lady" and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, fall short.

"I don't think Margaret Thatcher would impugn the integrity of a commanding general in a time of war, as Hillary Clinton did," he said, referring to Clinton's statement last week that the testimony offered by Gen. David Petraeus required "the willing suspension of disbelief."

His focus on Clinton rather than his GOP opponents is clearly calculated to demonstrate to Republicans, many of whom are wary of some of his more liberal views, that he is best equipped to defeat Clinton in a general election.

The former mayor argues that he has the best chance among Republicans of putting blue states like New York and New Jersey in play for the general election. He is also hoping that his London visit will feed into the image of him as a statesman that he's worked to project, as opposed to past moments when he seemed more a rough-and-tumble New York City street fighter.

Earlier in the day, Giuliani met with Blair, now a special envoy in the Middle East.

"When Tony Blair was the prime minister," Giuliani said today, his now-wife "Judith and I have wonderful memories of being here."

Blair "brought me to the question-and-answer period at the Parliament," which Giuliani said reminded him of news conferences with the New York media. "You had to always be on your toes."

Blair was not sufficiently on his toes during that House of Commons visit, having pronounced the former mayor's name as "GWEE-liani," a mistake likely not repeated today.

The former mayor laughed when asked about the fundraiser being thrown for him by Americans stationed in the United Kingdom.

"Given the expense of American presidential elections, every fundraising opportunity is important and you got to take advantage of it," he said. "It is something that absolutely every presidential candidate is united on."