Rudy Giuliani

Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE (pronounced /ˈruːdi ˌdʒuːliːˈɑːni/;^[1] born May 28, 1944) is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from the state of New York who was Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001.

A Democrat and Independent in the 1970s, and a Republican from the 1980s to the present, Giuliani served in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, eventually becoming U.S. Attorney. He prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including ones against organized crime and Wall Street financiers.

Giuliani served two terms as Mayor of New York City, and was credited with initiating improvements in the city's quality of life and with a reduction in crime. He ran for the United States Senate in 2000 but withdrew due to being diagnosed with prostate cancer and to revelations about his personal life. Giuliani gained international attention during and after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.^[2] In 2001, Time magazine named him "Person of the Year"^[3] and he received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.^[4]

After leaving office as mayor, Giuliani founded Giuliani Partners, a security consulting business; acquired Giuliani Capital Advisors (later sold), an investment banking firm; and joined the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm, which changed its name when he became a partner. Giuliani ran for the Republican Party nomination in the 2008 United States presidential election. After leading in national polls for much of 2007, his candidacy faltered late in that year and he did poorly in the early caucuses and primaries in 2008. He withdrew from the race on January 30, 2008 and endorsed John McCain.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was a leader in the American civil rights movement.

A Baptist minister, he became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–6) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.

In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1986.

John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.

After Kennedy's military service as commander of the Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 during World War II in the South Pacific, his aspirations turned political, with the encouragement and grooming of his father. Kennedy represented the state of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat, and in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated then Vice President and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election, one of the closest in American history. He is the only practicing Roman Catholic to be president, as well as the youngest elected to the office, at the age of 43.^[1]Kennedy is also the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.^[2] Events during his administration include the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African American Civil Rights Movement and early events of the Vietnam War.

Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the crime and was murdered two days later by Jack Ruby before he could be put on trial. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone in killing the president; however, the House Select Committee on Assassinations declared in 1979 that there was more likely a conspiracy that included Oswald. The entire subject remains controversial, with multiple theories about the assassination still being debated. The event proved to be an important moment in U.S. history because of its impact on the nation and the ensuing political repercussions. Today, Kennedy continues to rank highly in public opinion ratings of former U.S. presidents.

Joseph Merlino

Joseph S. Merlino, aka Skinny Joey (b. March 16, 1962), is an American alleged mafioso, alleged member of the U.S. Cosa Nostra, and alleged head of the Philadelphia Crime Family which controls organized crime as far as Southern New Jersey. He is the son of former Nicky Scarfo underboss/soldier Salvatore "Chuckie" Merlino. He is also the nephew of deceased former Capo Lawrence Merlino and father of Salvatore Merlino Jr. Because of his Mafia family, even though he was short and skinny,Joey was already somewhat feared,at the young age of 14 he already had made some powerfull friends, one of them was a neighborhood killer by the name of Anthony Barone, whos father was also a mob associate. In the summer of 1976 Barone was involved in a violent gang war a few blocks from 10th and wolf. And after it was over there were 5 seriously wounded high school students, and Merlino arrived after it was over, and wanted to know all the details, and Barone explained to him how he had knocked 2 boys down and then hit them with a baseball bat.He was getting his lesson in violence early.

While Merlino was the alleged boss of the Philadelphia crime family, it engaged primarily in extortion, bookmaking, drug trafficking, and loan sharking.

Merlino has been described as a particularly vicious mobster, obsessed with his own public image, and another version of New York's John Gotti, after whom he patterned himself. He is flashy, stylish, flamboyant, and "in your face." “Joey was a party guy,” said "Big Ron" Previte, cop-turned gangster-turned government witness. “He liked to go out. He liked to gamble. He liked the high life.” He invited TV crews to his annual Christmas party for the homeless, and was a fixture at the city's nightclubs, restaurants, and sporting events.^[1][2] With long time buddies Salvatore Scafidi, Michael Ciancaglini, and George Borgesi he was known to some time beat up girls, rob people, and start fights in clubs.