The next year, Giuliani opened an exploratory committee and formally announced in February 2007 that he was actively seeking the presidential nomination of the Republican Party.

Giuliani's public profile started to rise when he was appointed as the United States Associate Attorney General by President Ronald Reagan.

As mayor, he was best known for his leadership role during the September 11 attacks, when he coordinated and managed the immediate emergency response,[3] earning him the title as Time magazine Person of the Year in 2001.

Giuliani briefly ran for U.S. Senate in New York to succeed retiring Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 2000, but was forced to withdraw from the race after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

During this time, anti-abortion groups, such as the Republican National Coalition for Life, had already announced their intention to oppose Giuliani, because of his stance on abortion.

[6] Early polls showed Giuliani with one of the highest levels of name recognition and support, and he was considered a front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination.

[citation needed] Following a series of criticisms from conservatives about his views on abortion, Giuliani made a pledge in February 2007 to nominate Supreme Court Justices in the mold of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, and Anthony Kennedy (all Ronald Reagan appointees, former colleagues of his in the Reagan Justice Department or both).

Giuliani portrayed himself as the candidate who could beat Hillary Clinton in the general election by being competitive in traditional blue states such as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware.

[13] Giuliani participated at the May 15, 2007 GOP debate in South Carolina where the notable exchange occurred when the former mayor challenged a statement made by Congressman Ron Paul.

[14] Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid charged after the debate that this represented a conflict of interest, and that Fox News moderators Chris Wallace and Wendell Goler and post-debate interviewer Sean Hannity failed to ask Giuliani pertinent follow-up questions regarding the Ron Paul exchange about the causes of the September 11 attacks.

[15] In May, influential Christian conservative leader James Dobson, wrote that he could not fathom Giuliani's stance on the abortion issue and he would not vote for him if he were the Republican presidential nominee.

Healthcare reform must be based on increased choice, affordability, portability, and individual empowerment.Giuliani had emerged as the frontrunner after overtaking John McCain in the polls.

One of their supporters, Abraham Sofaer, attempted to hold a fundraiser for Giuliani during the "National House Party Night", and drew criticism.

[34] A September 26, 2007 Quinnipiac poll taken in New Jersey gave the mayor a slight lead over Hillary Clinton in the traditional blue state, 45% to 44%.

[38] On November 13, 2007, former publisher Judith Regan, with whom Kerik had had an extramarital affair, filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against News Corporation, the affiliate of Fox News, claiming among other things that the corporation's executives told her in 2004 to lie to federal investigators about her relationship with Kerik, in order to protect Giuliani's future presidential campaign.

[41] Questions continued in the press not over his need for the security, but over the appearance of trying to hide the expenses in the city budget, which Giuliani aides eventually said was due to vendor payment efficiencies.

[42] Shortly thereafter, the New York Daily News reported another angle on the story, stating that Giuliani had ordered police department protection and chauffeuring services for Nathan in early 2000, before her relationship with him had even become public.

[44] The Village Voice and others reported that Giuliani Partners had been given contracts from the Qatar Ministry of the Interior for security advice and consulting since 2005, and these contracts had been overseen by then-Minister of Religious Affairs Abdullah Bin Khalid Al-Thani,[45][46] a member of Qatar's royal family who is considered sympathetic to Al Qaeda and who had sheltered future September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed from the FBI in 1996.

[46][47][48] The New York Times reported that Bracewell & Giuliani had lobbied for an Ethiopian political faction opposing its government and in opposition to goals of American foreign policy.

[58] Not only were his poll numbers in the early states falling — despite an attempt for a while to boost his standing in New Hampshire[57] with $3 million of radio and television advertising, which ended up not having any effect[59] — but he had lost his national lead and had fallen into statistical ties with Mike Huckabee.

[59] Giuliani's woes were further symbolized when he got sick with flu-like symptoms during a campaign flight and was admitted overnight to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri as a precaution.

Giuliani's voter appeal continued to be hurt by the previous month's stories about his personal and business life, as well as the reduced level of civil strife in Iraq undercutting his security-based campaign messages.

[59] When the close proximity of the first contests to the holidays led to many candidates putting out Christmas videos — allowing them to keep presenting their message but in a more appropriate setting[65] — Giuliani chose two videos which combined his policy goals with humorous asides with Santa Claus regarding fruit cakes as gifts or the vain hope that "all the presidential candidates can just get along.

"[65] In the January 3 Iowa Republican caucus, in which Giuliani essentially did not compete,[66] he finished a distant sixth out of seven candidates with 4 percent of the vote.

Measurements by the University of Navarra indicated that throughout the month, Giuliani's amount of global media attention was a distant fourth among Republican candidates, trailing Huckabee, Romney, and McCain.

[76] A January 14, 2008, poll from Rasmussen Reports showed that Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Mitt Romney were all tied within the margin of error[77] On January 23, 2008, the Miami-Herald reported that Giuliani's Florida support was in "freefall" as polls showed him fighting Huckabee (who was only campaigning part-time in the state[78]) for third place, well behind front-runners McCain and Romney.

[92] Perhaps the biggest concern was the fact that two polls released on January 20 showed McCain with a double-digit lead in Giuliani's home state of New York.

[94] Following his Florida defeat, Giuliani flew cross-country to give his withdrawal announcement on January 30 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, endorsing McCain at the same time.

[157] In addition to this considerable debt, Giuliani's "high appearance fees dropped like a stone", in the words of Mark Greenbaum of Salon, following his failure to win the nomination.