On New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

Rudolph Giuliani may not be able to serve a third term or even a three-month extension as mayor of New York City, but the British gave him something that should be the envy of every American politician -- honorary knighthood.

Giuliani already was a man of great accomplishment. As a federal prosecutor, he put away mobsters and Wall Street sharpies. As mayor, he resuscitated Manhattan, lowered the crime rate and watched tourism flourish. As a man, he overcame prostate cancer and a very public divorce.

But this last month, Giuliani was at his finest. He has led the people of New York to pick up the pieces and carry on.

He has been everywhere, attending funerals, giving influential politicians tours and holding together spiritually a city devastated by an unimaginable horror. He gave an example in leadership in the face of adversity -- of showing what the British call a stiff upper lip.

Technically, the honorary knighthood does not carry with it the right to be called "Sir," but if any American politician should be called Sir, it is Rudolph Giuliani.

-- Charleston Gazette, Charleston, West Virginia