Giuliani Quit Iraq Study Group to "Get Motivated"

Posted by Guest Blogger at 7:55 AM on June 21, 2007.

This post, written by Matt Corley, originally appeared on Think Progress

Newsday reported this week that former mayor Rudy Giuliani stepped down from the Iraq Study Group after chairman James Baker gave "him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit." Baker was upset that despite serving on the panel for two months, Giuliani had failed to attend a single official meeting of the group.

According to his recently released financial disclosure forms, Giuliani made eight paid speeches, each on a different day, during the 23 days the Iraq Study Group met. What hasn't been noted is that two of the eight were for an organization called Life Win, Inc. (Get Motivated Seminars).

What is a "Get Motivated" seminar? According to a 2003 report in the St. Petersburg Times, a Get Motivated seminar is:

A daylong program infused with Christianity, patriotism and pumping music suitable for aerobics. Many among the roster of speakers urged the audience of about 25,000 to find their inner power -- and to sign up for more seminars and books.

At the seminars, Rudy would take the stage to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" with red, white and blue confetti swirling around his head. He would then launch into a speech using the attack and the aftermath of 9/11 to illustrate his "six principles of leadership." For his two appearances during the Iraq Study Group meetings alone, Giuliani pulled in a combined gross fee of $200,000.

Giuliani's camp has falsely claimed that he left the ISG because he "didn't want the group's work to become a political football" for his nascent presidential campaign. In reality it appears he just didn't want to turn down more opportunities for profit.

Tagged as: election08, iraq study group, giuliani

Matt Corley is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.