Rudy Giuliani 2008 presidential campaign the Florida primary, Giuliani's campaign indicated he would withdraw from the race. On January 29, 2008, Giuliani exited the race and endorsed the eventual Republican nominee John McCain. Giuliani's public profile started to rise when he was appointed as the United States Associate Attorney General by President Ronald Reagan. He held the position from 1981 to 1983, when he was appointed United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He held this post until 1989, when he resigned to run his first campaign for Mayor of New York City. He lost the race but won four years later,
Rudy Giuliani not filed a tax return for many years and of several other ethical missteps, in particular a stock transfer to his son. Dinkins filed several years of returns and said the tax matter had been fully paid off, denied other wrongdoing, and said that "what we need is a mayor, not a prosecutor", and that Giuliani refused to say "the R-word—he doesn't like to admit he's a Republican." Dinkins won the endorsements of three of the four daily New York newspapers, while Giuliani won approval from the "New York Post". In the end, Giuliani lost to Dinkins by a margin