Oprah: Now that you could probably do anything you want, where do you go from here—what's next for you?

Rudy: I hadn't wanted to start thinking about what's next too early, because I still have to be the mayor, and you can become a lame duck. I didn't want lots of speculation about what I was going to do. So I had decided that September and October would be a good time to organize what I was going to do next and then decide in November and December.

Oprah: Do you have any specific aspirations?

Rudy: Oh, yes, I have some ideas. I'm writing a book or two and there are a whole bunch of things I'm thinking about. I just haven't had the time to really sit down and figure it all out.

Oprah: Where do you think you can best serve?

Rudy: I don't know.

Oprah: Would you have wanted to have stayed on as mayor?

Rudy: I thought a longer transition was necessary. I understand how complex this job is. This is an enormously complicated city—we're the fourth-largest government in the country, after the United States, California, and the state of New York. We're a $40 billion operation.

Oprah: Would you say that as mayor, this time of crisis has been your finest hour?

Rudy: I can't evaluate that—someone else has to. But it wasn't my worst. I'm still getting through it, and I think I did my job.

Oprah: I think so, too. Thank you for the experience today and for your time.

Rudy: Thank you, Oprah.