Every twelve months, Time magazine awards its Person of the Year title to a person or group of people who had the greatest impact on world events for that year. In 2001, the objective choice would have been Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated an act of mass murder that set American history down a much darker path. But Time’s editors decided against it. “[Bin Laden] is not a larger-than-life figure with broad historical sweep,” Jim Kelly, the magazine’s managing editor, said at the time. “He is smaller than life, a garden-variety terrorist whose evil plan succeeded beyond his highest hopes.”

Though the title is not technically an award—past recipients include Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin—it could have been misinterpreted it as one, especially in the raw months after the September 11 attacks. So the magazine chose New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani instead for his leadership of the city during and after the attacks. “With the President out of sight for most of that day, Giuliani became the voice of America,” Time’s Eric Pooley wrote for the hagiographic cover story. “Every time he spoke, millions of people felt a little better. His words were full of grief and iron, inspiring New York to inspire the nation.”

Eighteen years later, Giuliani is playing a far different role in American history. The ex-mayor has embraced President Donald Trump’s approach to politics—a toxic mix of avarice, shamelessness, and conspiratorial smears—more thoroughly than almost any other figure in American public life. In his relentless hunt for wealth and influence, Giuliani welcomed foreign meddling in American elections and sparked a president’s impeachment. It will take decades to undo the damage Trump’s consigliere has done to our democratic process. For all of these reasons and more, Rudy Giuliani is 2019’s scoundrel of the year.

Giuliani’s woes began in the fall of 2016. He had spent most of the election year as one of Trump’s most loyal surrogates, even during the candidate’s worst moments. “This is talk, and gosh almighty, he who hasn’t sinned, throw the first stone here,” Giuliani said in an interview after the Access Hollywood tape became public. He reportedly hoped that his loyalty would be rewarded with a Cabinet post, perhaps as attorney general or secretary of state. Things didn’t go as planned. “He is and continues to be a close personal friend,” the president-elect said in a statement during the transition, “and as appropriate, I will call upon him for advice and can see an important place for him in the administration at a later date.”



Giuliani’s operations brought him in contact with unsavory figures and interests around the world.

Not receiving a government post also allowed Giuliani to keep earning money in the private sector. He worked for two law firms. He also kept at the consulting firm he opened after leaving the mayor’s office in 2002, where he advised foreign clients on security-related matters. None of this is a particularly unusual path for former politicians, especially those with legal backgrounds. But Giuliani’s operations brought him in contact with unsavory figures and interests around the world. Those who hire Giuliani can rely on his personal connections as much as his legal advice.