Giuliani on the fringes at daughter's graduation

NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani was the odd man out at his daughter's graduation, sitting in a last-row balcony seat and slipping out quickly as the rest of the family celebrated.

Caroline Giuliani, the Harvard-bound daughter of Giuliani and his second wife, Donna Hanover, graduated with honors Friday from the prestigious Trinity School in Manhattan.

Family and friends cheered her boisterously. But Dad kept his distance.

The Republican presidential hopeful slid in a balcony door with his third wife, Judith, and security guards as the commencement began and slipped out just as quietly when it ended, without speaking to his daughter and declining to speak with reporters.

Afterward, Caroline Giuliani, 17, beamed with joy but noticeably skipped over her father when asked how she felt about graduating.

"This is a great day," she said. "I am celebrating with my mom, my stepfather [Ed Oster], my brother and other family friends."

The graduation comes at a delicate time for the former New York mayor, who is struggling to repair his relationship with his children as he pursues the Republican nomination for president.

Although Caroline and Andrew, 21, were very much a part of Giuliani's political beginnings as youngsters, neither child is mentioned on his presidential Web site's biography.

Andrew Giuliani, 21, a junior at Duke University, said of his sister: "She obviously got the smart genes in the family so I am a little jealous. But I am proud of her; I hope she enjoys her day."