A Tale of Two Fathers.

The following is a comparison of two American men:

-Both were born in 1944.

-Each is on his third marriage

-The two of them have had their respective sons publicly air details of a strained father-son relationship.

Who are these men?

One is my own father.

The other is a certain Republican Presidential candidate.


Rudy Giuliani's son seems to think his dad would make a better President than he did a father.

"I got my values from my mother," 21-year-old Andrew Giuliani told ABC in an interview quoted on "Good Morning America" yesterday, the same day the Daily News spotlighted the rift between the former mayor and his only son.


Of course when I say that the two sons have aired their dismay publicly, Andrew certainly has the advantage in venues. He has ABC TV and the NY Daily News. I have this blog.

But I couldn’t help but be struck by the sentiments expressed by Andrew.


"I have problems with my father," Andrew told ABC. "But it doesn't mean he won't make a great President."

Andrew stressed he still loves his father and said "we are both working on our relationship."


I guess as a 37-year old man, I can still learn a thing or two about decorum from a 20-something kid. Andrew Giuliani and his younger sister Caroline, 18, certainly had it much tougher. They were teenagers and under intense media scrutiny while enduring the crumbling marriage of their father and mother, Donna Hanover. My younger brother and I were fortunate in that we were ages one and three, respectively, when our parents split. We have no tangible memories of Dad being around. Growing up in a single parent household was hardly a foreign concept.

It will be interesting to hear the comments from my Grandma Carlson if Rudy Giuliani is indeed the Republican nominee in 2008. Grandma, a staunch liberal Democrat, loves to get on her high horse when a GOP political figure has personal failures. I guarantee she’ll express disdain at the fact Giuliani has been married three times. She will also point out how Giuliani was unfaithful to one of his wives and that his relationship with his kids is strained.

All the while ignoring the fact her eldest son possesses those exact same attributes.