AP News, March 31st, 2007
Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani said Friday his wife will not be a member of his Cabinet or attend most high-level meetings as he sought to clarify his previous statements suggesting she would play a significant role in his administration.
Giuliani, in interview comments released Thursday, had said he'd be open to his wife attending Cabinet meetings on issues in which she's interested. "If she wanted to. If they were relevant to something that she was interested in. I mean that would be something that I'd be very, very comfortable with," Giuliani told Barbara Walters on ABC News' "20/20."
Late Friday, the Giuliani campaign issued a statement in which the former New York City mayor suggested that would not be the case.
"Obviously, she will not be a Cabinet member or attend most Cabinet meetings _ if any. But she will pursue a campaign to educate Americans on preventing illness and promoting overall health."
Judith Nathan Giuliani was a nurse.
In the statement, the former mayor sought to play down his own remarks and suggested any discussion of a policy role for his wife was merely prompted by Walters' questioning.
"Judith and I got a good laugh after we heard that she would be a member of the Cabinet, especially after she made it clear in the interview with Barbara Walters that she is not particularly interested in politics or policy," he said. "Like most couples, we rely on each other and support each other, but we have different interests. My interest is in politics and deciding policy. Judith is a nurse. Her interest is in educating people on how to stay healthy."
In the interview with Walters taped for airing Friday night, Giuliani described his wife as a close adviser who has as much involvement in his campaign as she wants.
Giuliani and his wife also answered questions about the six marriages between them and whether she was the "other woman" who caused the breakup of his second marriage to TV personality Donna Hanover, a point he denied.
In 1990s, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton played a prominent role in her husband's administration, including a failed effort on health care reform. Her policy efforts created some problems for the couple.
