Photos: Michael Bloomberg

Turning Things Around
In 2005, Bloomberg spent $70 million of his own money to run for re-election in what was the most expensive and financially one-sided mayoral elections in U.S. history. Despite the criticisms he had endured, he was elected for a second term and things began to turn around. Deetermined to show the people of the city that he could get things done, he turned a $6 billion city deficit into a surplus, worked for stronger gun-control laws, labored to make improvements in the educational system, and engaged in substantial philanthropic endeavors. In 2009, after convincing the city council to lift the two-term limit and change the law prohibiting mayors from serving three terms, he gained re-election yet again.