The Right Man, If . . .

N AT I O N A L R E V I E W/J U LY 4, 2005 beat him, according to one of her cam- paign insiders, Sharpton offered to support her wholeheartedly, provided he was given “a generous contribution of several hundred thousand dollars”? Or is it former city councilman Rafael Colon, “indicted on 706 counts of larceny and fraud . . . accused of beating his ex-lover, owing child support for his eight children by four different women, putting a dead cousin on his payroll, and, like many Bronx council members, living outside the city”? Fred Siegel knows, and he wants to share his knowledge with all comers.

The primary subject of The Prince of the City, however, is not Gotham’s rascals, but an authentic if limited hero, Rudolph Giuliani, who held them at bay for eight years, and who won some important and still lasting victories. “Prince of the City” is a tabloid honorific bestowed on gods of celebrity, most recently the late John F. Kennedy Jr. But Siegel wants to recall The Prince of Machiavelli. Machiavelli pro- posed to sweep aside Christianity in favor of ancient pagan virtues that he believed would save Italy. Giuliani, Siegel believes, swept aside the pseudo-Christianity of late liberalism in an effort to save New York. “He self-consciously replaced . . . rhetoric of compassion, generosity, and multi- culturalism—which in practice translated into more social-service jobs, higher taxes, and ethnic strife—with talk of work, self- sufficiency, and a shared Americanism.”

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

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N AT I O N A L R E V I E W/J U LY 4, 2005 beat him, according to one of her cam- paign insiders, Sharpton offered to support her wholeheartedly, provided he was given “a generous contribution of several hundred thousand dollars”? Or is it former city councilman Rafael Colon, “indicted on 706 counts of larceny and fraud . . . accused of beating his ex-lover, owing child support for his eight children by four different women, putting a dead cousin on his payroll, and, like many Bronx council members, living outside the city”? Fred Siegel knows, and he wants to share his knowledge with all comers.

The primary subject of The Prince of the City, however, is not Gotham’s rascals, but an authentic if limited hero, Rudolph Giuliani, who held them at bay for eight years, and who won some important and still lasting victories. “Prince of the City” is a tabloid honorific bestowed on gods of celebrity, most recently the late John F. Kennedy Jr. But Siegel wants to recall The Prince of Machiavelli. Machiavelli pro- posed to sweep aside Christianity in favor of ancient pagan virtues that he believed would save Italy. Giuliani, Siegel believes, swept aside the pseudo-Christianity of late liberalism in an effort to save New York. “He self-consciously replaced . . . rhetoric of compassion, generosity, and multi- culturalism—which in practice translated into more social-service jobs, higher taxes, and ethnic strife—with talk of work, self- sufficiency, and a shared Americanism.”