BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Rudy Giuliani was named Time’s “Man of the Year,” dubbed “America’s mayor” and given an honorary knighthood by the Queen of England – but none of that could top the Ronald Reagan Presidential Freedom award he got last night.
“This award means more than any other I have received,” said Giuliani, who was singled out for his leadership after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Giuliani, who was the No. 3 man at the Justice Department during the Reagan White House years, said he was “humbled” to get the award.
“A lot of the lessons I learned about leadership, consistency and loyalty, I learned from Ronald Reagan,” he said.
Former first lady Nancy Reagan presented the medal at a $1,000-a-plate dinner at the Beverly Hills Hilton that featured a who’s who of the California Republican elite.
But Giuliani shrugged off any suggestion he and the GOP are trying to make political hay out of the Sept. 11 tragedy.
Also at the event was Giuliani’s successor, Mayor Bloomberg, who had to turn around and fly right back to New York so he could attend today’s funeral of World Trade Center victim, firefighter George Cain.
“I thought that he was 3,000 miles away from home and he would get a kick out of having some friends here who care for him,” the mayor said.