instead attended the New York University School of Law in Manhattan, where he was a member of the NYU Law Review and graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree in 1968. Giuliani started his political life as a Democrat. He volunteered for Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968. He also worked as a Democratic Party committeeman on Long Island in the mid-1960s and voted for George McGovern for president in 1972. Legal career Upon graduation from law school, Giuliani clerked for Judge Lloyd Francis MacMahon, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Giuliani did not serve in the military during the Vietnam War. His conscription was deferred while he was enrolled at Manhattan College and NYU Law. Upon graduation from the latter in 1968, he was classified 1-A (available for military service), but in 1969 he was reclassified 2-A (essential civilian) as Judge MacMahon's law clerk. In 1970, Giuliani was reclassified 1-A but received a high 308 draft lottery number and was not called up for service. Giuliani switched his party registration from Democratic to Independent in 1975. This occurred during a period of time in which he was recruited for a position in Washington, D.C., with the Ford administration: Giuliani served as the associate deputy attorney general and chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Harold "Ace" Tyler. His first high-profile prosecution was of Democratic U.S. Representative Bertram L. Podell (NY-13), who was convicted of corruption. Podell pleaded guilty to conspiracy and conflict of interest for accepting more than $41,000 in campaign contributions and legal fees from a Florida airline to obtain federal rights for a Bahama route. Podell, who maintained a legal practice while serving in Congress, said the payments were legitimate legal fees. The Washington Post later reported: "The trial catapulted future New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani to front-page status when, as assistant U.S. attorney, he relentlessly cross-examined an initially calm Rep. Podell. The congressman reportedly grew more flustered and eventually decided to plead guilty." From 1977 to 1981, during the Carter administration, Giuliani practiced law at the Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler law firm, as chief of staff to his former boss, Ace Tyler. In later years, Tyler became "disillusioned" by what Tyler described as Giuliani's time as US Attorney, criticizing several of his prosecutions as "overkill". On December 8, 1980, one month after the election of Ronald Reagan brought