Friday, 14 September 2001 : "Giuliani"

He has looked tired, has on occasion grown emotional, but he has not allowed more than a few hours to pass without reminding the city that someone was at the helm.

President Bush will visit New York on Friday, a gesture many have suggested is overdue. New York knows this because he called the mayor and the governor, live on TV ... "You've been a terrific leader and we're taking our example from you," the mayor responded with startling generosity.

The very qualities that have caused so many flaps and feuds -- Giuliani's chin-out pugnaciousness, his reluctance to compromise, his tendency to take things very personally -- have proved to be exactly what a stricken city needs in its worst crisis. If term limits weren't forcing him from office in January, even with so many of the city's ordinary problems from housing to education still enduring, he could probably be elected mayor for life.