First Lady of the Hamptons, Judith Giuliani (Come On In & Get to know Judy!)

Hampton Style ^ | 7.04.06 | HamptonStyle

[Registered]

 

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Judith Giuliani is creating a rose garden at the Hamptons summer home she shares with her husband, Rudy Giuliani. And while there are many people on both sides of the aisle who hope this foreshadows a bid for the White House, Judith will say only: “I just love digging in the dirt; I am obsessed with gardening.”

Of course it requires uninterrupted downtime, something that has become a rarity for the woman whose role has developed into one half of a power couple on the move. In the past four years, the pair has traveled to over 20 countries. This spring his emphasis shifted to domestic pit stops where he stumped for Republican candidates in Iowa, Georgia and Michigan. Judith's weekend reading has recently included The Emancipator's Wife, a biography of Mary Todd Lincoln she borrowed from Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton. But, in reply to the question on everybody's mind: “Will Rudy be on the ballot in 2008?” the discreet Mrs. Giuliani will say only, “My parents were married for more than 50 years. All I've ever wanted is a happy marriage and Rudy and I have one. My mother used to tell me the trick was in knowing when to say, ‘whatever makes you happy.' Well, if it makes him happy, I will support him every step of the way.”

Judith Giuliani was not overtly political when she met her future husband. “I remember one of our first conversations. I was explaining that I am a nurse, that I had been working with Bristol-Myers Squibb, and that my arena was in infectious diseases,” she reflects. “We both had our passions; we each brought something unique to the table.” Their partnership has drawn Rudy closer to the medical charities with which Judith aligns herself, and last week the American Heart Association honored the Giulianis at its annual Heart of the Hamptons benefit in Water Mill. “The real champion of the night was Dr. Valentine Fuster,” injects Judith. “He is known around the world as the father of cardiology.” Judith chose to focus her attention on the topic of heart disease, particularly in women, because she says, “heart disease is the number one killer of women in America.” Seven times more women die from heart disease than from breast cancer, she added, and women's symptoms are different. “Whereas men will get the classic symptoms, women may get those, or other flu-like symptoms such as general malaise or nausea. Because many women are such multi-taskers they often just attribute this to fatigue and may not seek treatment.”

An inveterate multi-tasker herself, Judith is also working on developing a Level One trauma center for Saint Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan. It will serve as a response center for potential nuclear, biological, and chemical attacks: “N.B.C., that's become the buzzword in medical circles,” she adds. “The center will mean a physician from every different medical specialty will be on call 24 hours a day.” Judith also raises money for Cabrini High School for Girls in the Bronx, a template for educating at-risk women that has since been copied in states across the nation. And in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Judith rallied the Giulianis' friends to address the crisis in New Orleans. “When Katrina hit, I wanted to do a fund-raiser for inoculations and hospital supplies. I called Donald Trump and we put together a golf tournament. Donald was wonderful. We raised well over $1 million.”

The couple has made a point of golfing on many of their international trips. “I will tell you how fanatical we are. We flew to an event in Singapore and arrived early in the morning. We left the plane in golf clothes, played the course, then showered at the club and changed into black tie for the event we were attending. After that we headed back to the plane.”

Rudy Giuliani discovered golf as a young boy sneaking onto the Garden City Country Club at night with friends to hit balls, later buying his first set of clubs as a law student at NYU. Now the man associated with cleaning up the urban jungles of New York finds a retreat from the public eye on the bucolic green links. On a recent Saturday afternoon, he joins Judith on her HamptonStyle photo shoot, fresh from a day spent on the course and full of anecdotes from the game. For the mayor Americans see as an indelible New York institution, the transition from his native Brooklyn to the South Fork has been natural. He spent his first full summer in the Hamptons just a few years ago when he was writing his memoir and serving his last year as mayor. “The spirit of Long Island is an extension of New York City for me. When I was about 16 and learning how to drive, I can remember winding down North Fork roads; the farmland, the beaches...it's a unique part of this country.”

When the couple is in residence at their new home, Rudy also uses the respite to read and unwind with a cigar; his humidor is never far afield. As Judith remarks, “One of my favorite pictures of Rudy is of him reading with a cigar on the porch out here. My husband is so brilliant; he can read two books at once. One will be the biography of a political figure, and the other will be something lighter: for him that might be a history of Russia.” More recently, Rudy has been alternating between Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography of Lincoln and Cobra II, the harrowing account of the Iraqi invasion, written by Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor.

But for a moment, in the late afternoon sun, the man known as “America's Mayor” has a moment to think of lighter things. First of all, there's baseball. The Yankees are up. And then, there's his lovely wife. Of Judith, his multilingual, philanthropic spouse, he says simply, “She gets me to unwind from all of the pressures and just relax. I love her.”

[onyx]

ROTFLOL!

"RFK, Jr."

[nopardons]

Oh deary me, it is either too late for you or something else is interfering with your reading comprehension, I see. Whatever it is, I do so hope that it clears up soon.

[Lurker]

Nobody cares who you vote for; you're in IL --- solid BLUE state. Period.

Thanks for your input there, Sparky.

So I guess you won't be giving any Illinois residents any crap in the Primaries or the General election. All the Republicans in IL can just stay home.

I think we'll all just take the day off. I'll be sure to tell everyone you said it would be alright.

L

[nopardons]

Gee and just HOW are you going to all of THAT "sparky", since I know quite a few voters in Ill. and they won't be staying home and not voting in the primary or general election. :-)

[onyx]

Oh, so now "you" are representative of all the Republicans in IL, "sparky." I addressed "your" petulant juvenile post.

[Lurker]

Okay, I take it that you will be helping Hillary or Obama or Edwards then

Your post seems pretty clear to me.

You seem to think that because I don't support a liberal Republican that somehow means I do support liberal Democrats.

Maybe you should put down the bong and get some sleep.

I'll be sure to ping you if anyone posts a thread alerting us to a pharmaceutical remedy for cognitive dissonance. If you need someone to recommend you for the clinical trials feel free to look me up.

L

[nopardons]

It would appear that perhaps one of us is impaired from something; however, that person would not be me.

In the general election, if one doesn't vote for the GOP candidate, then one IS giving aid and comfort and support to the Dem candidate, You may not like to hear that, but it is the factual truth.

[onyx]

Maybe if you ended each of your posts with an N at the bottom to use more bandwidth, your posts would be clear.


O

[Lurker]

I addressed "your" petulant juvenile post.

Wow.

All I said was I wouldn't vote for Rudy for President. Perhaps you need to look up the meaning of the words 'petulant' and 'juvenile'.

As for the rest of your witty riposte I'll simply recommend that you look up the word 'sarcasm' when your done with the first two.

All I was offering to do was to pass along your opinion of the Republican voters of IL. After all we are solidly BLUE after all. From the tone of your response to me I reasonably inferred that you somehow think our votes don't matter.

I'll be sure to print it out and take it with me when I'm getting petitions signed in the Precincts I walk.

You do know about walking Precincts don't you? It's an old fashioned concept that involves getting off ones ass and knocking on doors, getting personally involved, and supporting the candidate of ones choice.

You might want to look into it sometime.

L

[nopardons]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....perhaps that is the secret code now. LOL

n

[Lurker]

The 'truth' is that one of the two of us is willing to vote for a liberal.

Hint: It's not me.

L

[onyx]

There ya go!




O

[nopardons]

No, the TRUTH is that one of is refuses to allow Hillary or Obama or Edwards or Gore or any Dem presidential candidate anywhere near the inside of the White House, and the other one, YOU, are!

[MaxMax]

ACK!
I humbly respect your perseverance in supporting Giuliani.

/Salute nopardons

[Lurker]

In a contest between liberal and liberal-lite, the liberal will win every time.

I think Limbaugh said something like that.

But what the hell. Why not work to put another liberal in the WH. In a couple more election cycles there won't be any way to tell the difference between the Republican and Democrat parties.

And it will largely be due to the sterling efforts of folks like you.

Of course you are from Chicago so I guess supporting liberals is ingrained genetically somehow. So I suppose it's no wonder your judgement is impaired.

Spending so much time in an area with a complete dearth of anything even remotely conservative can really screw up ones judgement.

Of course according to your pal onyx no one cares who we vote for anyway.

L

[Reform4Bush]

Yum. She's kinda Ok looking.

Rudy in '08!

[nopardons]

:-)

[nopardons]

FWIW, "gay" means HAPPY and I refuse to allow a perfectly good English word get appropriated and used for a strange purpose.

What this all started out as, was just to counter the damned lies, propaganda, 1/2 truths, innuendo, specious, and mendacious posts being posted about Rudy. I was NOT supporting anyone! But the spammers and propagandists are pushing me and many other into being Rudy supporters.

What with the end bit....you do NOT "SALUTE" me or you do? It's a bit confusing as posted. LOL

[nopardons]

I was neither born or raised nor do I now live in Chicago; though yes, I once did live in that city.

Unlike YOU, I refuse to EVER allow another damned Dem to garner the presidency and WILL do anything at all to insure that does NOT happen.

If Rudy is the GOP candidate, unlike a Dem, he is NOT for raising taxes, increasing the size of government, affirmative action, and a whole host of other things that Dem are. He also would NEVER capitulate on the WOT.

You are more than willing to not only get no glass at all, but broken glass shards stuffed down your gullet, if you can't have a full glass. No thanks; my way is much better. :-)

[BigSkyFreeper]

It doesn't fit his template. LOL