I saw yesterday that Rudy Giuliani is in the news again, having just been held in contempt of court in a staggering $148 million defamation case after he falsely accused two Georgia election workers of tampering with votes. 

It's quite something to have witnessed the public downfall of someone who was once described by Oprah Winfrey as "America's mayor" with the word Shakespearean coming to mind when you consider such a tragic change in his fortunes. 

Prior to 9/11, Giuliani had become mayor of New York City on the back of his successful career as a prosecutor, cracking down on the mafia through an innovative use of he RICO Act. 

Then came the events of 9/11 and "cometh the hour, cometh the man".

The memory I have of Giuliani in his prime - if we can call it that - was as the face of stoicism and resistance following the 2001 terror attack on the Twin Towers. 

His calm, measured, and compassionate response was in stark contrast - something you might recall - to the initial image of President Bush sitting stunned in front of a room of schoolkids as he digested the news. 

Former Democratic governor and senator Bob Kerrey summed up Giuliani's response on 9/11 when he said, "trust me, the range of possibilities for leaders is quite extreme: Some panic, some get paralyzed," - "Giuliani was brave and reassuring, and you can't subtract that from his résumé.”  

Fast forward, and it's quite hard to get your head around what a stunning downfall we've witnessed over the last few years, with Giuliani playing the role of Trump's attack dog in leading the attempt to overturn the election results four years ago. 

Then there was a string of embarrassing public appearances, which made it hard to imagine that this was the very man who, for his leadership of New York in its greatest crisis, was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year for 2001. 

But how the mighty have fallen. People who know him or knew him say that Giuliani today bears little resemblance to the man they knew. 

Others have suggested that the real Giuliani was always hiding in plain sight and it was just fate that dished up the circumstances that enabled him to demonstrate the best of himself. 

Perhaps it was fate also that dished up circumstances which caused him to demonstrate the worst of himself. 

Maybe it was in tying his fortunes to Donald Trump, where he wouldn't be the only acolyte to have fallen under that bus. Michael Cohen and Steve Bannon are a couple of names that come to mind. 

But ultimately, it's a tragedy to watch him make the choices he has made and betray his legacy as the man who led New York City through its darkest days, becoming instead the architect of his own downfall by letting his later actions overshadow it all. 

And hopefully, history will be kinder to him than the most recent headlines.

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